At the end of December, the people took to the streets because they wanted their voices heard with regards to the dire economic situation that the clerical regime has caused. The poor management and corruption that is rife throughout the whole leadership of the country has had profound implications for the people of Iran that are finding themselves struggling more and more.

Last week, during a session at the Iranian parliament, it was mentioned during Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi’s speech [chairman of the parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee] that between January and March this year a sum of $30 billion had been taken out of the country.

The timing is very telling – it came during the protests that rocked the regime to its core. People were calling for regime change.

The head of the Iranian chamber of commerce has tried to pass the sum off as the figure that Iranians spend abroad as tourists. However, the figure is much too high. According to the country’s central statistics bureau, this figure is nowhere near reached in a year, much less in only two months.

On the other hand, Mohammad Bager Nobakht, a spokesman for the government, said that the sum was related to property investment abroad. If this is the case, it would appear that the regime is stockpiling money abroad or trying to get round sanctions. Could it be possible that the regime is trying to hide easily-accessible money for the worst-case scenario?

Yes. And this is not the first time large sums of money have “disappeared”. The Mahmoud Ahmadinejad government has apparently moved $22 billion abroad during the final year and a half of his time in office.

The Iranian regime is no stranger to corruption so it is not a surprise that such a large sum has been taken out of the country. However, for such a large sum to go in such a short space of time suggests that the regime is extremely concerned about its future. After the huge uprising at the end of the year, protests have continued and labour strikes are taking place with more frequency.

After four decades of repression, there is no doubt that the people of Iran need and want regime change. The young people of Iran, many of whom were not even born when the clerical regime took power, are looking forward to a brighter future and are determined to play a role in bringing Iran into more positive times with human rights, democracy and freedom.

The regime knows that its days are numbered and it is trying to plan in advance for the inevitable. It is losing its grip on power and the future is bleak now that the international community is becoming increasingly aware of the situation in Iran. Trump’s exit from the nuclear deal will cause great damage to current deals and enterprises will stay away.