Lawmakers’ rare admissions expose regime fear amid soaring prices, systemic corruption, and growing public rage
As public anger continues to spread across Iran, fear is increasingly visible among the regime’s officials. Amid a deepening cost-of-living crisis, relentless price hikes, and the steady collapse of purchasing power that has exhausted millions of citizens, the regime’s parliament has once again turned into a platform for warnings and expressions of alarm.
Recent statements by members of parliament are particularly revealing.
“A Dangerous Front”: Fear of Public Rage Inside Parliament
Salar Velayatmadar, a regime lawmaker from Qazvin, warned in an open parliamentary session—reported on December 24 by the state-run Mehr News Agency—about the consequences of unchecked inflation and economic pressure. He described living conditions and soaring prices as having turned into “a dangerous front,” repeatedly invoking the phrase “people’s anger.”
Velayatmadar stressed that officials have no right to provoke public rage and openly stated that he “seeks refuge in God from the anger of the people.” He warned that runaway inflation is directly targeting citizens’ basic livelihoods and said the U.S. dollar is rising daily in a “mysterious and managed” manner. Without any credible solution, he cautioned, society is being pushed toward an explosion.
Identifying himself as a “security-minded individual,” Velayatmadar framed his remarks as a formal alarm. Addressing Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, regime President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Central Bank officials, he warned that failure to act to protect people’s livelihoods would make tomorrow too late. He cited chants of “we are crushed by high prices” by the people as evidence of the depth of the crisis.
He went on to describe the ruling economic team as indifferent, directionless, and dysfunctional, accusing officials of focusing on self-justification and blaming others rather than taking responsibility. The result, he said, is a population being crushed under inflation and pushed ever closer to open fury.
According to Velayatmadar, the regime has no real understanding of society’s suffering. He said this indifference “stinks” and reflects a deep and dangerous rift between the state and the people. Reiterating that the economic situation has become a “dangerous front,” he argued that it requires competent leadership—something the current officials lack. Even the implementation of the food ration card program, he added, remains unanswered, with officials evading accountability.
Billions Missing: Organized Plunder Behind the Crisis
Other lawmakers echoed these warnings with stark details of systemic corruption.
Ebrahim Najafi, addressing Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, revealed that billions of dollars in export revenues have not been returned to the country. Citing the Central Bank’s deputy governor, he said $15 billion in foreign currency remains unreturned, with just 15 individuals using single-use commercial cards responsible for $6 billion of that amount.
Najafi also questioned the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidized currency for rice imports, asking why the goods are nowhere to be found in the market. He suggested the items were hoarded to be sold later at higher prices after subsidies were removed—offering a clear picture of an economic system in which public destruction is the direct outcome of organized looting.
“People Are Being Destroyed”
Mohsen Biglari, another regime MP, spoke of corruption in livestock feed imports, stating bluntly that “people are being destroyed.” He said citizens’ livelihoods have been taken hostage by corruption networks and criticized the harsh treatment of border porters and impoverished communities while billion-dollar smuggling operations go untouched.
He pointed to sharp increases in fuel, gas, meat, chicken, and rice prices, saying people’s tables are no longer just shrinking but disappearing altogether. He urged the president to visit markets personally and witness the reality of people’s destruction.
Nabiollah Mohammadi and Moeini Arani highlighted crises in agriculture and livestock supplies. Mohammadi condemned the influx of counterfeit fertilizers, fuel shortages for farmers, and rising value-added taxes, saying the government is reaching into the pockets of people who have nothing left.
Moeini Arani warned that the livestock feed crisis threatens national food security, citing uncontrolled price hikes, distribution failures, and a complete lack of planning. These conditions, he said, are yet another manifestation of the ongoing destruction of society.
Widespread Poverty and Media Repression
Mohammad Rostami and Farhad Shahroudi spoke of rampant inflation and the dramatic erosion of purchasing power. They noted that workers, teachers, nurses, and retirees are surviving on wages that no longer cover basic necessities. Shahroudi described Sistan and Baluchestan province as being in a state of compounded crisis—crushed simultaneously by prolonged drought and soaring prices.
Meanwhile, Reza Sepahvand exposed the regime’s repression of the media, citing lawsuits against journalists and prison and exile sentences. He described these actions as clear signs of dictatorship taking root in the provinces. Media suppression, combined with widespread poverty, completes the machinery of public destruction.
Fear, Not Compassion
What emerges from these confessions is not compassion for the people, but deep fear within the ruling system of an approaching future in which society reaches its breaking point. Regime lawmakers clearly understand that these conditions will inevitably lead to widespread public anger and social uprisings.
Their warnings stand as an indictment of four decades of corruption, plunder, and disregard for human life. The day will come when these very statements are presented as clear evidence of structural crimes—before a people who, despite immense suffering, continue to keep the hope of freedom alive.
