Among the important economic indicators that affect the lives of society members, one can refer to the inflation rate and unemployment rate. The Central Bank of Iran recently announced that inflation in Iran has exceeded 52 percent.
Another report states that this inflation figure has been unprecedented in the past 80 years and is only comparable to the consequences of the World War II period and the occupation of Iran by the Allies.
Unemployment has also reached its highest level during the rule of the Islamic Republic. The Statistical Center of Iran, in calculations released this year, stated that more than one-third of the country’s unemployed are those with higher education degrees. On the other hand, according to a report by the economic website “Eco Iran,” the misery index in Iran has reached 64.2 percent. The report published by the Statistical Center indicates that Lorestan (67.2 percent), Kermanshah (64.4 percent), and Kurdistan (63.7 percent) had the highest misery rates. This index, derived from the sum of the unemployment and inflation rates in a country at a specific period, is the most revealing measure of the economic and livelihood situation of the people. According to this report, Kermanshah province has the highest misery rate, followed by Kurdistan province, and Lorestan province ranks fourth in this classification after Yazd province. Meanwhile, according to data and statistics from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the average inflation rate in various countries around the world in 2023 was about 6.9 percent. Also, the average unemployment rate in the world reached 5.1 percent.
This report clearly shows the depth of suffering that the people of this country endure under the burden of inflation and unemployment across Iran. From the political bankruptcy of this regime to the prevailing corruption in Iran, it’s evident that three provinces—Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and Lorestan—all rich in underground resources, sufficient water, and fertile agricultural land, with millions of ready-to-work labor force, have economically become the most miserable areas.
To see the real face of poverty in Iran, referring to the statistics and information published by the Islamic Republic authorities does not lead anywhere. Over the past 45 years, the Islamic Republic has made life increasingly difficult and unbearable for the majority of people. By insisting on continuing the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, intervening in regional crises, implementing adventurous atomic and missile projects, and spending billions of dollars to expand religious institutions, all of these have dissipated trillions of dollars of the wealth of the people of this country and wasted the toil and labor of its citizens. This has led to a situation where today more than 70 percent of the people of Iran live below the poverty line. These conditions have led to various abnormalities and social harms such as prostitution, addiction to drugs, garbage dumping, child labor, and suicide.
The reality is that the Islamic Republic is floundering in the quagmire of an economic crisis without remedy and has no way out of it. In such circumstances, to cover its annual budget deficit and meet the large expenses of military, security, and mythical proliferation institutions, it has raided the tables of workers, toilers, and the majority of deprived people of this society and by reducing social services, has made life harder for deprived people. In such circumstances, the only way to cope with this misery is to launch a movement for demands. Workers, teachers, nurses, retirees, marginalized urban dwellers, faced with the pressures of the regime, have not surrendered. Now, in the context of the feminist revolution and courageous resistance against compulsory hijab, they continue to fight to extricate their rights from the grip of this regime. The suffering people, whose bones have reached the core due to economic hardships, have no choice but to raise their sleeves and fight more determinedly than before against the perpetrators and architects of this poverty and economic misery in all arenas.
