He says that no one in the country is accountable. Officials also lack the expertise and competence to be in their positions. Dr. Mostafa Eghlima states that “if we don’t address the problems of society, we will have an explosion in Iran.”

Dr. Mostafa Eghlima is a social worker and the president of the Iranian Association of Social Workers. The monthly magazine “Peace Line” went to him during the time of the coronavirus in our homeland to find out about the social effects of the virus on Iran. But Eghlima says that “before the coronavirus, everything was already hot! It had nothing to do with the coronavirus.”

This Iranian university professor, researcher, and scholar also responded to a question about social damages in Iran in an interview with “Peace Line,” saying that “a society with this many problems, its people also have these problems. It can never create a healthy society. Until the infrastructure of that society is fixed, its planning is not

The coronavirus crisis has significantly expanded poverty in the country by eliminating job opportunities and having a serious negative impact on the economy. According to statistics published by the Parliament Research Center, 2 to 6 million people have become unemployed due to the coronavirus, mostly laborers. In addition, according to experts, about 8 million people without contracts and with unpredictable wages should be added to this number. What social consequences will the lack of proper support for this high population, who may also be the head of households, have? Which social classes will be most affected by the growing wave of poverty and what will be the social consequences in your opinion? What damages are expected for which social classes?

Look at the whole world, not just Iran. America had allocated a budget of three trillion dollars for five months to give to those who are not working. They were supposed to support workers and small businesses so that they could return to work after the problem was solved. The government had allocated such a budget for this issue. But think about a country like Iran, where inflation was already high before the arrival of the coronavirus, unemployment was alarming, and eighty percent of our educated population was jobless. Some factories were also closed. In such a situation, the government announced that we can only increase salaries by 15 percent. On the other hand, for example, rent increased by forty to fifty percent. People were suffering, and these problems created other issues. There was an increase in theft, addiction, and various illegal activities. And now, in such conditions, the coronavirus has arrived. What can the government do? The only thing the government did was to say that we will give the subsidies to

You predicted some kind of protests in the future. Is it possible that we will once again witness nationwide and popular protests?

See! I am an expert in social issues and I am familiar with the problems within the country. Places like the Parliament’s research center, where they receive statistics and experts have all said that it is natural to see protests in society. When you have no job, you can’t pay rent, everything becomes expensive, these protests will naturally happen. In any part of the world, when you can’t provide the basic necessities of life, people will rise up. Their rising up is not a result of protesting against the government. They rise up because their lives are not moving forward. Their problem is with the government, not the ruling party! We misunderstand the people’s words. People think that when they rise up and protest, they want to change the government. Even if a different government comes, when people are hungry, they will still rise up. People rise up because those in power have not done anything for them. People are not rising up against Islam. People are Muslim. They say this

Dear Doctor! According to available reports, emotional relationships within families have been and will continue to be damaged during and after the COVID-19 crisis. What is your opinion? What are the roots and potential consequences?

In our country, officials like to say that our people are depressed and have problems. But they don’t say that we are the problem, not the people. The people don’t have any problems. It’s a psychological issue; when I work from morning till night, I don’t see my wife and children. I don’t even know who they are. We argue about something without knowing what we mean to each other. This coronavirus had a positive aspect for our people. People stayed at home. Families talked and argued with each other. But they reached a point where they got to know their spouses. They realized that the mindset they had about their spouse was wrong. They thought they knew them, but they didn’t. Because they just got to know them. They didn’t know their own child’s father. Now they know him. They know their own child’s father. Because before, when he came home at night, they were asleep. In fact, the coronavirus did not create any

Of course, some say that our government does not have the ability, like industrial and developed countries, to provide comprehensive support. Do you think such a claim is true?

Good. I don’t accept this at all. Our people are different from the people of those countries. Also, before the coronavirus, everything was already hot for us! It had nothing to do with the coronavirus. Inflation is not forty or fifty percent because of the coronavirus. The issue is not worthy leadership. Whoever takes on a job must have expertise in that job. When those who were ministers in the previous era but did nothing become responsible, this is what we see. People have gone from this government to that government in these forty years. Well, it’s obvious that this is what happens. If we had competent officials, we wouldn’t have shortages. Now every day, people go to court to find out how much they have been cheated and taken advantage of. It’s not clear where the money has gone. In the stock market, the government wants to bring in money, so they sell some shares. No one cares if the factory whose shares have been sold is actually working or

In your opinion, how do problems arise in the country?

Problems do not arise on their own. They come into existence over time and as a result of a system’s negligence and its problems. When they do arise and are not fixed, everyone does their own work and says it has nothing to do with them. In a country where there is no accountability and responsibility, problems continue and become deeper. If there is no accountability anywhere in the world, it will be worse for us. On the other hand, there are many laws in our country in various fields, but none of them are enforced. In addition, problems arise from lawlessness and creating chaos.

In this country, journalists are the eyes and ears of the government. If they report the complete truth and the government reads the news, they will understand the whole story. But when a news story comes out, they ask the journalist why they said that? They even bring the journalist’s father and ask why they said that.

Every day, illegal activities are increasing in the country. Pressure is

Finally, these issues are dealt with by law enforcement. They are arrested. They may be detained for a period of time in the worst case scenario and then return to their previous situation. This means that there is no specific plan to address the root of these problems. Why?

Do you know why? Look at these street children and working children. We have said many times, why do you arrest them? Why do you take them and then release them after punishing them? A worker goes to work every day and gets his salary. A person who has no parents and has four or five children has to come to the streets and work. They have to sell things on the street. They have to come and find work. What help have you, as the government, provided for them? Can someone live with 200,000 tomans? Can they pay their rent? Which official can live like this? You give 200 tomans in aid to someone who has four or five children. Well, it’s natural that these children come to the streets to work. They are called street children and working children. They fine some of them and then release them. This child goes back to where he belongs and the problem repeats itself.

Or they take a drug addict and then

Is there a difference between social harm and individual harm? How is its social aspect resolved and in what timeframe?

Social problems and individual problems are different. When an individual becomes addicted, it is an individual problem. The problem of this addicted person is solved, the issue is over. But when five people in a group become addicted, we don’t say it’s an individual problem. It’s a social problem. We need to see what the situation is in schools, universities, places of residence, work and study. What has happened that these people have turned to addiction, for example. So it’s a social problem. Social problems arise in the long run. And the solution is also long-term. If we want to treat addiction, we need to plan in the country from now on, and in forty or fifty years we can say that we did not create new addicts in the country. But to say that we will solve the problem tomorrow is irrelevant. Many infrastructures need to be changed in order to solve many social problems.

Thank you for the time you have dedicated to the peace process.