Alamolhoda: The Leader's Orders on Economic Issues Have Been Trampled

The Friday prayer leader of Mashhad attributed the involvement of the Assembly of Experts in economic issues to the neglect of the Supreme Leader's directives in this regard, stating that "the leader's command has been trampled and disregarded." According to ILNA news agency, Ahmad Alamolhoda, in his sermon on September 13, criticized those who oppose the Assembly of Experts' engagement in economic matters as "ignorant individuals." He added: "The main duty of the Experts is to protect the leadership. When the leader demands action on economic and livelihood issues and commands it, and the leader's orders are trampled and disregarded in various arenas, it is the duty of the Experts to rise in demanding the leader's orders." A day prior to these remarks, Ali Akbar Gorji, Deputy for Constitutional Law Implementation at the Presidential Legal Office, stated that the Assembly of Experts "has no authority to oversee other branches." Meanwhile, Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, considered the Assembly of Experts' statement to indicate that this body "has completely deviated from its legal path and has entered the domain of the Parliament and the government." He emphasized: "What relevance does the Assembly have with the issues of the currency and coin market? Now that the Assembly of Experts is not fulfilling its primary duty, it is better to refrain from holding its sessions that waste public funds." Addressing the economic and livelihood conditions of the people was among the agenda items of the Assembly of Experts' meeting on September 3 and 4, during which Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Assembly, criticized the government's performance in economic areas in his closing statement. According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, the Assembly of Experts is tasked with electing the leader and overseeing his performance; however, this Assembly has not provided any report in this regard and has instead issued statements on most political issues. Meanwhile, Mehdi Karroubi, a leader of the Green Movement, had previously requested the members of this Assembly, in a letter before the meeting, to question the Supreme Leader about the policies of the past three decades that have led Iran to its current situation, rather than "praising and glorifying" him. In another part of his speech, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad stated: "What has caused problems in our country today is not economic issues but psychological operations regarding both coins and currency." He added: "What place does gold have in a family's budget that people base their entire lives and merchants base all their transactions on the price of coins?" Alamolhoda also told the people that "you should not become subjects of psychological operations and should not fill your homes with assets or buy cars without need." The Friday prayer leader of Mashhad had previously condemned participants in the protest gatherings of August, stating that "one should not stand against the system due to a decrease in stomach size." Reports about the potential U.S. exit from the JCPOA have increased the price of the dollar, and according to the Associated Press, since the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA on May 8, the value of Iran's national currency has decreased by more than 140 percent. However, those close to the Supreme Leader attribute Iran's economic problems not to U.S. sanctions but to the "weak" performance of the government and, according to them, the "exploitation by profiteers."