Iranian regime’s experts and its state media are speaking daily about the disastrous situation of the country’s industry, with many of them bankrupted or on the verge of a total collapse. The state-run daily Servat on March 12, 2022, reported that 12,000 industrial units have been closed.
The state-run daily Jahan-e Sanat reported on March 8 that 110 steel factories are closed and about 25,000 people have lost their jobs, while these factories produced about six million tons of steel annually.
In an interview with the state-run daily Bultan News, the same day, Farshad Momeni, one of the regime’s economic experts about the collapse of the country’s industrial production said, “The size of the collapse or negative growth of Iran’s industrial production was almost double the reduction in GDP growth.”
He described the current employment situation in Iran as “extremely unproductive and fragile.”
Quoting the governor-general on Mazandaran on March 11, the state-run website Defah-e Moghadas reported that, “Mazandaran industry is on the verge of collapse and despite numerous investments, we still could not boost the industry sector of the province.”
The regime’s solution to cure the wounds of the country’s industrial sector, however, amounts to nothing more than hollow prescriptions. This is similar to the regime president Ebrahim Raisi’s order to his Minister of Industry to improve the situation of the country’s car industry with an eight-article order to increase the production a least by 50 percent. Something that was even mocked by the regime’s experts.
This is something like the regime’s hollow promise to create one million houses in one year. The state-run news agency March 6, quoted Hojatollah Firouzi, a member of the regime’s Parliamentary Committee on Industries and Mines, as saying: “The cases that Mr. Raisi has set up create conflict when they confront each other. The strategies set by the President conflict with each other.”
In connection with the amount of domestic car production, the state-run website Eghtesad-e Gardan reported on March 6 that “currently, the automotive industry, like many other industries, is facing the challenge of product circulation and certainly does not have the desired quality. In the current situation, nothing can be done for the automotive industry. The industry has been losing money for 10 years, and capital is escaping from domestic production, resulting in greater depreciation in the production lines.”
In terms of the textile and clothing industry, the situation is the same. Because the production costs of this industry are much higher than neighboring countries. The regime has no proper planning, and this industry is being run without any strategy.
This is not because of a lack of experience, and tactical weaknesses, but because of the widespread corruption within the regime.
As an example, the state-run daily Arman quoted the regime’s former Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, Waez Ashtiani, on December 22, 2021, as saying, “We have made wrong decisions in the country in the past, but no one has been prosecuted. The thirteenth government should not go in the direction that its decisions lead to events that challenge the country’s economy. In the past, the management team has created problems for the country due to the lack of a plan and a strategy. If the management team of Mr. Raisi’s government is to be without a plan and a strategy, and inexperienced and ignorant people are present insensitive and critical areas, the country will face significant challenges.”
If we refer to the writings of other experts of the regime, the same reason for the backwardness of Iran’s industry is mentioned. Industries that have not been shut down are generally operating at half capacity, while many of their devices and equipment are obsolete and cannot be used in production.
