Oct 07 2021

The Chairman of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce said Iran’s inflation rate is among the top ten countries with the highest inflation growth rate.

According to the state-run ISNA News Agency, Qolamhossein Shafei, the Chairman of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, said Iran is in the top ten countries with the highest inflation growth rate among Venezuela, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and others.

“Iran’s Chamber of Commerce Research Center reports also confirmed the reduction of calorie consumption in Iran. From 2017 onwards, over 50% of Iranians consume less than the required 2,100 daily calories,” Shafei said.

Shafei also said poverty has had effects on the urban population, causing an increase in migration from rural areas to metropolitan areas. He added that this will increase city service expenses and cause management difficulties.

On October 4, the state-run Jamaran News website wrote that new statistics on Iran’s poverty show the number of poor people in Iran has doubled in the past decade, and another 4 million Iranians are now living under the international poverty line ($5.5/day).

The state-run ILNA wrote on October 5 that economic problems including a rise in living costs have led to a decline in the purchasing power of Iranians. In an interview with ILNA, a citizen in Zanjan, northwestern Iran, said they have taken to scavenging trash bins to cover their living costs.

“I have two sons; one is 18 and the other is younger. My pensions don’t cover living costs. I gather at least 100,000 tomans (about $3.5) from the city trash, ” said the local from Zanjan.

Another local from Zanjan who works as a trash scavenger said his father suffers from diabetes and his mother cleans other people’s homes.
Protest gatherings due to poverty

In the past months, Iranian teachers, workers, pensioners, among other sectors gathered to protest their unpaid wages.

Iranian current and retired teachers protested in at 57 cities in September. Public school teachers make around 3 million tomans, $100, which puts them under Iran’s 10 million toman line of poverty.

Three Iranian teachers committed suicide due to poverty in the past two months.

On September 22, a 39-year-old worker’s wife self-immolated since her husband had not received wages for five months in Dehdasht, western Iran. Mohammad Javad Erfani’s wife self-immolated, and he also sustained 30% burns while trying to extinguish the fire. Mohammad is the father of three children. His monthly wages are 5.8 million tomans (about $209), which is less than the absolute poverty line in Iran.

On September 16, the Chairman of the Working Group of Iran’s Supreme Labor Council Wage Committee said the worker’s monthly wages are only enough for 10 days if paid.

Source » irannewswire