Feeling the Pain in Iran (excerpts from article in Foreign Policy)
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence did something remarkable three months ago: It used its website to publish a report (link in Farsi) calling for direct talks with the country’s foe, the United States. …. President Obama, the report’s authors wrote, “hopes to solve this issue peacefully and through diplomacy” — in contrast to Israel” ….”
…The ministry, a key player in the power structure of the Islamic Republic, ,, chose, in an entirely unprecedented way, to enter a public debate. The man who runs the Ministry of Intelligence, Heydar Moslehi, is no outsider; he is, in fact, a confidant of the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on all matters of state. Ayatollah Khamenei habitually refers to the United States as “the enemy” and has denounced negotiations.
The most likely reason for the shift is …international sanctions leveled against the country… are having a devastating effect. … The measures have led to a sharp decline in Iran’s oil revenues. European countries that used to buy 20 percent of Iran’s oil have suspended their imports since July. … China and India, have sharply reduced their imports under pressure from the international community. An embargo on the Iranian financial sector blocks its banking system from transferring money. American and European firms, fearing hefty fines, refuse to do business with Iran. U.S. authorities have levied hundreds of millions of dollars in fines against Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC for moving Iranian money through the U.S. financial system.
Inflation is soaring, sparking worries among ordinary people and government officials alike. … Putting food on the table has become a challenge for many Iranians. Shirin, a 34-year-old single chemist who lives with her widowed mother in Tehran, said that the rial’s drastic loss of value — 40 percent since August alone — is making life far harder. “Cabbies ask for a higher fare every morning when I go to work, citing the higher exchange rate,” she said. “We’ve had to cut down on what we eat and replace, for example, meat with more bread. But how long can we continue doing that?”… Demonstrations rocked Tehran’s bazaar in October after the Iranian currency, the rial, collapsed 40 percent against the U.S. dollar. Local newspapers are filled with daily reports on the effects of skyrocketing prices around the country. READMORE