By Mazdak Razi | 2023-09-27

In light of the months-long widespread uprising in Iran that formed the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement, domestic investment has decreased considerably, Iranian economists said.

An increasing number of anxious Iranians have been investing overseas or taking their capital out of Iran in hopes of more security, they said.

Several domestic news outlets have been reporting an increase in immigration as well, which is not new for Iranians but has accelerated since last year's protests began.

More immigration has naturally also resulted in more capital flight. Meanwhile, already low productivity has dropped even lower in the past year, further affecting the economy, which was on the brink of bankruptcy even before last year's protests began.

The staggering increase in prices along with the free fall of the national currency's value against the dollar was so alarming that Iranian leader Ali Khamenei named the current Iranian year -- which began on March 21 -- the year of "Curbing inflation."

Khamenei traditionally gives a name to each new year -- which he announces on the first day of the new year -- based on the latest major developments in the country.

But many economists say the roots of Iran's acute economic crises lie in government policies and that slogans will not cure the ill economy.

Farda-ye Eqtesad, a domestic economic publication, in April interviewed 50 prominent Iranian economists regarding the state of the country's economy.

Almost all of those interviewed agreed that the country is facing an extreme recession and the highest rate of inflation in more than three decades.

The government's latest official report on inflation has estimated the country's annual inflation rate to be 47.5%, but most economists say the real rate is much higher.

Empty promise

While campaigning for president, Ebrahim Raisi vowed to curb inflation -- a promise that even many conservative political figures say has not been fulfilled.

In a July 9 article titled "Raisi administration's big lie about inflation," the Iranian daily Taadol, affiliated with the reformists, quoted Majles (parliament) member Gholamreza Nouri accusing the government of lying about the annual rate of inflation.

"Officials keep saying inflation is at 40%, while we are seeing that the actual rate is 120%," Nouri said.

Economic daily Donya-e Eqtesad, which examines economic issues from specialist viewpoints, has recently written that the rate of inflation in the first two years of Raisi's government was registered as more than three times higher than in the first two years under former president Hassan Rouhani.

Inflation now is the highest recorded in the past 32 years, say economists.

The recent protests in Iran clearly show that the public is grappling with major economic concerns and is opposed to the Islamic Republic as an entire system, in all of its aspects, Afshin Haqverdi, a US-based economist, sad.

Esfahan farmers' protests in 2022 -- after the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement had gained momentum -- were among the first of a series of major protests that decried the state of the economy.

The movement was no longer only about women's personal freedoms and coverage; it was about economic woes as well.

Demonstrators were protesting low productivity and a lack of economic growth, as well as unemployment and salaries that do not cover the expenses of many households.

Several cities saw protests in which workers, teachers, retirees, government employees and citizens with disabilities took part.

"The regime seems to have forgotten that even if the protests no longer take place as frequently as they did last year, at some point, demonstrations over economic challenges will arise again and spread throughout the country," Haqverdi told Pishtaz.

The widespread demonstrations of November 2019 are a clear examples of this, he said, as they represented a loud voice opposing an increase in gasoline prices.

"The same type of protests are expected to be seen again, sooner or later," he added.