Parliamentary infighting over the plunging rial and soaring prices has exposed deeper economic failures, while a health committee spokesman says bankrupt insurance funds are shifting more than 80 percent of treatment costs onto patients.
Iran’s economic crisis is increasingly spilling into every aspect of daily life, from the collapse of the national currency to the rising cost of medical treatment. Recent remarks by members of the regime’s parliament have provided an unusually stark picture of the problems facing the country.
As the rial continues to lose value, lawmakers have openly questioned the Central Bank’s management of the foreign-exchange market and the government’s policies on imports. At the same time, Salman Es’haghi, spokesman for the parliamentary Health and Treatment Committee, has acknowledged that Iran’s insurance funds are effectively bankrupt and that patients are being forced to shoulder most medical expenses.
The remarks came amid growing infighting among regime officials over responsibility for the economic crisis.
Lawmaker: “The Central Bank Is Dead”
Hossein Kia, a member of the regime’s parliament, directly attacked Central Bank officials over the continuing turmoil in the currency market.
“The Central Bank is dead,” he said, arguing that such severe exchange-rate instability would not be possible if the institution were effectively managing the market.
Kia also questioned the allocation of foreign currency for imports, pointing to the continued arrival of luxury vehicles and other non-essential goods despite severe economic pressure.
“If [essential goods] are not being prioritized, where do all these luxury cars and luxury goods entering the country come from?” he asked.
His remarks highlight the growing contradiction between official claims of foreign-currency shortages and the continued availability of hard currency for imports that lawmakers themselves describe as non-essential.
The criticism comes as the rial has reached new lows. The currency fell to around 2.688 million rials per U.S. dollar in the open market on October 3, according to Reuters, while the Central Bank has attempted to intervene by selling up to $2 billion through state banks.
Lawmaker Blames Government and Central Bank for Rial Collapse
Another member of parliament, Alireza Khazrian, also targeted Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati and the administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Khazrian argued that the latest currency surge raises questions about the Central Bank’s own policies. He pointed to Hemmati’s previous statements that responsibility for managing the exchange rate lies with the Central Bank and argued that the governor should therefore be held accountable for the current situation.
He also recalled that Hemmati had previously faced parliamentary pressure over exchange-rate management, arguing that the same issue had again become a central problem.
Khazrian questioned why the rial was continuing to depreciate despite a reduction in imports of essential goods under wartime conditions. In his argument, if fewer essential goods are being imported while foreign currency is still entering the country, the continued surge in the exchange rate requires an explanation.
The accusations reflect an increasingly public dispute within the regime over who bears responsibility for the currency crisis.
Healthcare System: “The End Is Death”
The economic crisis is also directly affecting access to healthcare.
Es’haghi, spokesman for the parliamentary Health and Treatment Committee, gave an extraordinary assessment of the situation, saying the country had reached a point where officials could only hope people would not become sick.
“If they do, the end of that illness is not treatment; it is death,” he said.
Es’haghi said Iran’s insurance funds had effectively declared bankruptcy but were avoiding publicly acknowledging it. According to his account, the financial burden had instead been transferred to patients, with more than 80 percent of treatment costs now being paid directly by households.
He also rejected the argument that shortages and rising healthcare costs could simply be attributed to war and sanctions, pointing instead to corruption, poor decision-making, and failures in the healthcare system.
Recent reporting from Tehran has documented insured patients waiting weeks or months for diagnostic services or being forced to pay privately when services are unavailable through state insurance facilities.
Economic Crisis Becomes a Healthcare Crisis
The statements from regime lawmakers expose the interconnected nature of Iran’s current economic problems.
A collapsing currency raises the cost of imported medicines, medical equipment, and raw materials. At the same time, weakening insurance funds leave households responsible for an ever-larger share of medical expenses. For families already struggling with inflation and declining purchasing power, a serious illness can therefore become a financial catastrophe.
Es’haghi’s admission that more than 80 percent of treatment costs are being paid out of pocket illustrates how far the healthcare system has moved from its stated goal of protecting patients from catastrophic expenses.
The result is a widening gap between official claims of economic management and the conditions acknowledged by the regime’s own lawmakers. Their statements point to a system confronting simultaneous currency instability, rising prices, import distortions, financial pressure on insurance funds, and increasing healthcare costs.
Rather than remaining confined to economic statistics, the crisis is increasingly being reflected in the most basic needs of ordinary people: the ability to preserve the value of their income, purchase essential goods, and obtain medical treatment when they become ill.