The state-run Vatan daily quoted Rahim Zare, a member of Iran’s parliament as saying: “The gasoline debate today has disrupted the country’s economy. Needless to say, if we raise the price of gasoline, we should read mourning rituals for the country. So, put off any plans to raise the price of diesel, because the damage will be double as that of gasoline.”
“The people are still protesting this decision,” the state-run daily newspaper Farhikhtegan quoted Imad Afroogh, a former member of Iran’s parliament. “Ironically today, there has been another protest added to the people’s demands. Despite promising to control the prices, the prices have spiraled out of control. The issue is that so far people have been protesting the announcement and the action of increasing gasoline rates and now they are protesting the aftermath.”
Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of the terrorist-designated IRGC, compared Iran’s latest protests to Operation Karbala-4 (during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war), in which the regime suffered heavy losses. “It was a 48-hour battle,” he said.#Iran#IranProtestshttps://t.co/MI5MPXcCk1
— People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 23, 2019
He also acknowledged the looting of state funds by government officials: “Some in the name of the Islamic Revolution in the Islamic Republic filled their pockets. Who were they and what did they reach?”
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani’s affiliated newspapers have in another way confessed to the failure of this corrupt plan. The state-run website Jahane Sanat wrote: “It is illegal to increase the price of energy carriers because they have both revenue and cost dimensions.”
The website added: “The sudden rise in prices is putting double the pressure on people. But the other point is that we have falsely told people that we have a deposit to bail out 60 million people, but they did not do so. Even if they put some money, they have questioned the dignity and credibility of the nation.”
The state-run newspaper Aftab Yazd also wrote: “The authorities seem to have been caught in a vicious circle of gasoline crisis for more than a decade, and no matter how far they go, they are actually at the same place, and until the government cuts gasoline prices and it intervenes on issues such as rationing, things are going the same way, and this vicious cycle will continue. Again, sooner or later, the authorities have to raise the price of gasoline and get caught up in the consequences that were problematic this time and will be problematic again.”
The report added: “Now that none of these actions, from persuasion to preparation has been done, and officials are on the same path to double rating the gasoline, we still have to wait for another shock.”
