Over the past 40 years, the Iranian regime plundered and fleeced the people of Iran such that today most of them can even not provide one portion of a warm meal to their families and many are even deprived of a daily meal and, for that matter, a piece of bread.

This is even though the regime has had more than $1,37 trillion from oil revenues in the past 42 years according to its Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.

We can attribute this situation and the people’s abject poverty to two factors, but two facts explain the Iranian people’s dire predicament. First, the insatiable greed of the regime’s officials, especially the mullahs, who have looted everything in any corner of the country.

And second, the regime’s capital burning ambitions as reflected in its terrorism, export of “revolution,” and missile and nuclear projects.

While we are witnessing the countless claims by the regime’s officials about fighting corruption in the country most of them are knee-deep into the corruption cases, with supreme leader Ali Khamenei and his office taking home the lion’s share.

Why? Because the regime has decided to target the people’s daily bread. In an article entitled ‘Are people’s necessities your business too?’ the state-run daily Hamdeli on January 15 attacked Raisi’s government and revealed the regime’s schemes to loot “the people’s basic commodities.’

Hamdeli wrote: “The head of the Planning and Budget Organization announced a plan whereby the government is going to give people a ‘bread purchase card’. According to this plan, the bread will be offered on a quota-basis and at a two-rate currency. The first thing that comes to mind when hearing this news is the situation in the country, and the complexities involved in planning to provide bread to the public.

“Indeed, how many countries in the world have created a purchasing card for bread and are looking after such programs. What have we done to a rich country where we must ration and put a quota on our basic goods? The dissemination of this news in society is not good and aggravates people’s concerns.”

Finally, in a warning to the regime, Hamdeli wrote, “In a situation where the society is tired of, and angry with the living conditions and the economy, talking about eliminating subsidies for imported goods such as bread is stepping on people’s nerves.”

On January 15, Hamdeli also wrote an article entitled, ”When enduring the pain of high costs will become more painful than selling kidneys,”  admitting, “Although officials occasionally publish statistics on the poverty line figure, if there is a listening ear, tangible reports can be heard from the sound of the bones of the poor being crushed.

“Poverty forces people to sell their kidneys to provide shelter or earn some income. New reports indicate an increase in applicants to sell their kidneys. But these statistics become even more painful when we know that the demand for kidneys has also decreased significantly due to its high cost.

“The living conditions of the people deteriorating daily. The spike in inflation to more than 50 percent and the lowering of the poverty line to 120 million rials is evidence of the situation of the poor.”

And in a shocking report on the severity of poverty in Iran, on January 15, the state-run daily Eghtesad-e Pooya wrote, “Many published reports on the living conditions of the people show that more than 60 to 70 percent of the people cannot afford to buy any kind of meat and poultry, and according to the owners of many butcher and protein shops, most people go to buy bones and other surplus cases, and this situation is worse in deprived cities and the countryside.

“These difficult and miserable conditions are very painful for the people who are on a land rich in oil and gas mines, various precious metal mines, and other God-given gifts.”

Comparing the living conditions in Iran with the poorest African countries, the daily unveiled the severity of this critical situation: “In fact, the standard of living of workers and wage earners is equal to that of the poorest countries in Africa, and this level of wages has led the heads of households who have lost their jobs or have no jobs, to accept even lower wages than stated in the labor law.”

Finally, the paper warns the regime of the consequences of such a situation: “The difficulties of livelihood and the lack of minimal economic and social security cause these people to participate in protests to pursue their demands. We have always witnessed in the history of this land and other nations that the crisis of poverty and hunger does not tolerate any kind of ideology.”