Furthermore, those that continue to work in mines are subjected to very harsh conditions and safety is a big issue. There is no government support for miners and they have some of the most demanding jobs possible. They are forced to work underground in very poor conditions for very little pay.

There was a recent incident at the Urth mine in Golestan where dozens of miners died.

The IRGC media is speaking about such tragedies, but the sincerity of it is dubious. After all, more than three quarters of the mines, factories and large companies are managed by government affiliated factions and agencies like the IRGC.

Although mining is an industry that has been particularly affected by the economic crisis in the country, the manufacturing and industry sectors have also been hit. These include the steel, iron melting, automotive and electrical industries, among others.

Regime officials have commented on the disastrous state of the economy and the crises in certain sectors.

The Qods Force’s mouthpiece, Tsensim, said that the iron melting industry has a 6 trillion Toman debt that has brought it very close to bankruptcy. The vice chairman of the Economic Commission of the Parliament said last month: “While the Ministry of Roads and urbanization has imported 3.5 million tons of steel products to the country last year, imports from abroad has left domestic steel products without any purchase contracts with the company. These imports put the factory on the brink of bankruptcy, because the products are stored in the company and have no purchase contracts. Due to some, Ministry of Roads’ officials travel to abroad and their huge import revenue from the imports are blocking the purchase of domestic goods.”

A government mouthpiece has also pointed to the stone industry crisis, saying that in the past three years, almost three-quarters of the units have been completely shut down, and for the ones that remain, many are working to a very low capacity.

In the construction industry, Iranian statistics show that over 332,000 have lost their jobs in the past four years.

Iron producers and exporters have said that the government corruption is one of the contributing factors to the many mine closures.