On the eve of the ancient holiday of Nowruz, the biggest Iranian holiday, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is paying a subsidy of forty-five thousand and five hundred tomans to the people, while the price of one kilogram of Iranian rice is one hundred thousand tomans. With this subsidy, a family of four can bring home approximately three and a half kilograms of Iranian rice or two kilograms of meat per month. This phenomenon can be considered the most peculiar economic and social calculation in the history of humanity in the world today.

In these days, as we are on the eve of the Persian New Year, people must follow the customs and traditions that have been passed down for thousands of years. They must wear new clothes, prepare nuts, sweets, and delicious food, visit relatives and friends, give gifts to children, and travel, all while bearing the heavy expenses of this holiday. However, we witness that with such circumstances, not only the celebration of the holiday, but life itself has turned into a hell for the majority of society. In the midst of all this, for those people who have no income other than government subsidies, and make up a large portion of society, there will be no signs of celebration or joy, and no celebration or holiday will be held. This hunger, suffering, mourning, and grief will replace the grand celebration and holiday for this group of Iranians.

Nowruz is the biggest ancient celebration and a time of joy for Iranians; a holiday that brings the promise of spring, flowers, blossoms, and the revival of nature, marking the beginning of a new year. During these days, not only Iranians, but also people from neighboring countries celebrate this ancient holiday, go to the market, buy new clothes, clean their homes, and strive to prepare the best food for themselves and their families, and plan for a big celebration. Children receive gifts from their elders, families visit each other, and in general, days of peace and putting aside grudges occur during this time. For this reason, Iranians eagerly await this holiday all year long, and everyone must prepare the best food, fruits, and sweets for their families and guests. In Iran, every year, five official holidays are announced in honor of Nowruz, so that people can celebrate, be joyful, and go on holiday trips.

This year, as Nowruz approaches, there are many families in Iranian society who only have a monthly income of forty-five thousand and five hundred tomans, which they must live on with the help of subsidies.

This major problem is happening while according to the statements of the country’s officials, more than seventy-five percent of Iran’s population live below the poverty line; a poverty line estimated to be between ten to fourteen million tomans in Iran today. On the other hand, the middle class and retired members of society also have incomes below six million tomans, and employed workers and salary earners have even less, around three million tomans. In addition to this, a large population, which makes up about one-third of the country’s total population, have no income other than the forty-five thousand and five hundred tomans they receive monthly from the government, and they struggle to make ends meet in a state of extreme poverty and indescribable pressure. This subsidy has remained constant since twelve years ago and has not increased. Meanwhile, inflation and high prices in the country have increased by tens of times during these years and in some cases, even by hundreds of percent, and it continues to worsen day

A look from within at social laws in Iran.

Seeing the lives of people in Iran today confronts humans with bitter and astonishing realities; realities that are unimaginable and difficult for humans to believe in today’s world, but unfortunately they exist. Nowadays, in the lower levels of Iranian society, many families live without any source of income and manage their lives with the same subsidies that the government pays them monthly. However, the existence of new and increasing phenomena caused by this poverty and extreme misery, such as suicides, self-immolations, fathers fleeing from home, baby selling, organ trafficking, strange and bizarre thefts, murder and killing, obscenities, child marriage, and dozens of other social problems, should not be ignored; problems that are expanding day by day and taking on new and more dangerous forms, threatening the entire society, without any will or perhaps even the ability to solve all these problems and widespread poverty and misery that have suffocated the society.

Nostalgia is a range of historical and social experiences.

The topic of bringing oil money to the tables of the Iranian people was first raised by the clergy, and that too during the exciting days of the 1357 Revolution. The clerics would go to the pulpit and speak against the Shah. In their speeches, they would strongly criticize the Shah, claiming that he had violated the rights of the Iranian people and did not grant them even the slightest of rights.

They were saying that the king should only pay seventy tomans per day to each Iranian from the oil sales, and this is the most obvious right of the people that the king has denied them.

People used to calculate for themselves that, for example, a family of four would receive two hundred and eighty thousand tomans from their share of oil daily, which means they should receive eight hundred and forty thousand tomans monthly as their oil allowance. This was at a time when the average salary for employees in Iran was between three hundred and six hundred tomans and the US dollar was worth seven tomans. This situation gave Iranians a greater sense of pride, status, and confidence. Ruhollah Khomeini, who had now become the undisputed leader of the revolution, also addressed the Iranian people, saying, “Do not be content with this amount. We will make water and electricity free, we will make buses free, and we will build housing for everyone.” This is how the people of Iran thought that the Shah was a demon and monster, and Ruhollah Khomeini, who was supposed to take all their rights and give them back, was an angel. For this reason,

When the devil goes out, an angel comes in.

My beloved leader will come back from the trip.

In those exciting and revolutionary days, no one knew or talked about inflation, high prices, and the economy. Basically, the masses did not pay attention to these issues, and anyone who raised doubts about the reality and truthfulness of these matters was considered anti-revolutionary and was criticized and cursed. It was in such circumstances that with the departure of the Shah from the country and the domination of the revolutionaries over the nation, the Chief Justice of the Revolution, who had been the Prime Minister of Iran for eleven consecutive years, asked: “What have you done for Iran?” And he replied, “As the Prime Minister of this country, I managed the economy in a way that the price of no commodity increased in rials, and the same price remained as eleven years ago, and the country did not face any problems such as inflation and high prices during these eleven years.”

The empty-headed and mostly revolutionary and Muslim people of Iran, who were unfamiliar with words such as economy, inflation, high prices, and foreign influence, burst into laughter upon hearing these words and laughed until they were out of breath. They showered him with insults and the revolutionary judge sentenced him to execution for treason against the country. He was executed in public.

Years have passed since the victory of the revolution. The expectations of the revolutionaries and the people to receive a daily allowance of seventy tomans of oil money did not come true. Water and electricity did not become free, but instead became more expensive, and the prices of all other energies went up and up.

In 2012, when thirty years had passed since the revolution, a man named Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the president of the country; a person who claimed to have breakfast with the Imam of the Time, the Hidden Imam and the savior of the Shiites of the world, and claimed to be inspired by the unseen. He said he had come to save the Islamic nation and wanted to establish equality and justice in society.

The president, with such a slogan, increased the price of eight energy carriers including water, electricity, oil, gasoline, etc. and promised the nation that he would bring the money from oil to their table. Since not all people use these energies equally and this is unfair, instead of raising the prices, a subsidy, later changed to the term “subsidy”, will be paid to the entire nation and to achieve this goal, a subsidy of forty-five thousand and five hundred tomans will be allocated to each person. He said that this money belongs to Imam Zaman and has blessings, and promised to increase it at the current rate to the people of Iran.

We are now on the verge of the year 1401 and eleven years have passed since that date. During these eleven years, inflation and high prices have plagued the country, while the value of the currency has decreased and no extra funds have been allocated for subsidies.

Iran is now on the brink of a water crisis, its forests have been destroyed, its economic gap is unprecedented in the world, its economic system has been destroyed. For years, workers, teachers, retirees, and the majority of the population have taken to the streets, crying out about inflation, high prices, and the alarming gap between wages and necessary goods. They are facing hundreds of other problems that have burdened the people, and their cries for justice have reached the heavens. Meanwhile, governments are incapable of solving their economic and social problems, and their response is nothing but repetitive slogans without any action.

The society’s foundation is on the verge of collapse and death, and the city of Shiraz has fallen apart. Iran has lost its stability and economic and political independence. Social classes are facing unprecedented crises and hardships, and everything has become tens or even hundreds of times more expensive. Inflation has reached an unbelievable level and all of these have caused numerous problems and difficulties among different social classes. It can be said that in today’s wealthy and great country with a rich historical and cultural background, nothing is in its rightful place and injustice has led to a terrifying situation. The society is going through a difficult and bitter time before the storm of fate. Hope for a better life has reached zero for the majority of the society. No matter how one calculates, it is impossible for anyone to afford a car or a house in these conditions. The average cost of living and inflation compared to wages in the country is extremely deep and frightening.