Iran: Poverty and Inequality

A publisher in Iran has released a full-color book about the life of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, including 1,200 photos of him, in a print run of 100,000 copies priced at 140,000 tomans. Simultaneously, shocking news has spread in the official media of the Islamic Republic: the stitches on a four-year-old child's chin have opened due to the parents' inability to pay 150,000 tomans for treatment. These two new and strange pieces of news may reflect the two sides of the deplorable inequality and the depth of poverty in today's Iran. Alongside these two bitter events, a joyful piece of news has also been published: the release of a book on poverty and inequality in Iran, authored by Dr. Saeed Madani, a senior social sciences researcher; someone whose recent news of being beaten along with several other political prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj has caused concern among observers. Madani has sought to explore the issue of poverty in Iran from various angles in his new research, which was compiled inside prison, and to reflect on its relationship with the concept of inequality. The 2014 Human Development Report on global poverty states that despite advancements and improvements, over 2.2 billion people are engaged in various dimensions of poverty. The report emphasizes that about 15% of the world's population remains vulnerable to multiple forms of poverty; approximately 12% (over 842 million people) suffer from chronic hunger; and nearly half of workers (over 1.5 billion people) are employed in informal and temporary jobs. These individuals lack the capacity to escape poverty and its consequences and suffer from various deprivations. Based on this report, three-quarters of the world's poor live in rural areas, where agricultural workers face the highest indicators and adverse effects of poverty. Furthermore, about 1.2 billion people worldwide live on less than $1.25 a day. Increasing the income poverty line to $2.50 a day would double the population of the world's poor. According to the International Labour Organization report, only one-third of countries (about 30% of the world's population) have provided comprehensive social support for their citizens. Therefore, financial crises in countries quickly lead to social crises. Fighting poverty; beyond left and right. Amartya Sen, the famous economist and Nobel laureate in economics, writes in his famous book (Equality and Freedom): 'One of the common characteristics of almost all moral approaches to social arrangements that have endured is that they have demanded equality. The demand for equality arises from the fact that all opinions must somehow pay attention to the issue of equality because otherwise, they will face a lack of social acceptance.' Madani explains in his book that although the discussion of poverty was long monopolized by supporters of socialism, liberals, in response to socialist critiques, referred the solution of the justice issue to economic growth and the invisible hand of the market. Thus, gradually, with the persistent existence of poverty and inequality in liberal societies on one hand, and on the other hand, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and its inability to establish a sustainable and just developed society, both sides of the left-right conflict came to believe that achieving justice and reducing poverty and inequality requires mechanisms and methods influenced by economic, social, and cultural frameworks. In this way, new ideas on both the left and right regarding poverty and inequality emerged; and more realistic views were developed by new leftists and justice-oriented liberals (such as Joseph Stiglitz, John Rawls, Mahboub-ul-Haq, and Amartya Sen). Madani believes that these developments stemmed from the necessity of reducing poverty and inequality and expanding justice in the world; especially since poverty also has social and political consequences. Events known as the 'IMF riots' have been cited as significant evidence of the correlation between poverty and the occurrence of protest movements. The fight against poverty and inequality in Iran. In his recent research, Madani emphasizes that the use of 'income' is the most common and popular method for measuring poverty. As the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security also believes, a poor person is someone whose income from various sources is insufficient to meet all or some of their essential needs (including food, clothing, housing, health, treatment, and education). He also clarifies the position of poverty in Iran's laws and regulations and development programs, and by examining various studies and research (including those related to Raghfar, Yazdanpanah, Dadgar, and Salehi-Isfahani), he emphasizes that despite some minor and fluctuating changes in the level of poverty and inequality, Iranian society continues to experience one of the most unequal economic systems, and the effectiveness of distribution policies is low. Madani points out that after the political system change in 1979, several organizations were established to combat poverty and deprivation, noting that although some of these organizations operated as economic institutions, they fundamentally lacked a clear program or action plan to fight poverty. He mentions the Foundation of the Oppressed, the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation, and the Red Crescent Society. He also refers to the fact that over three and a half million people are under the coverage of the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, expressing the opinion that given the prioritization of resource allocation by the Relief Foundation to support policies—and not to job creation or the development of the social security and tax system—it seems that the continuation of the Foundation's activities lacks professional legitimacy and cannot reduce the share of poverty in Iran. However, the situation is different regarding the Welfare Organization; in Madani's opinion, this institution has played an effective role in the relative improvement of the situation and welfare of beneficiaries, the disabled, and vulnerable social groups and in controlling their poverty. Efforts to provide housing, livelihood, nutrition, health, education, employment, entrepreneurship, life skills, vocational training, and providing insurance and support services have given the Welfare Organization an effective role. Regarding the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, Madani believes that overall, this ministry has not been able to meet expectations regarding poverty reduction during its short existence; and there is still a deep gap between this ministry's duties in the law of the social welfare and security system and its performance. In Madani's view, a significant part of this situation is the result of the inefficiency of its programs in reducing poverty and inequality, and another part is due to the resistance of various insurance, support, and relief agencies against the implementation of the law. Madani has also emphasized the role and performance of independent civil society organizations in combating poverty—especially in the support sector—stating that the growth and expansion of non-governmental organizations in Iranian civil society provide suitable grounds and opportunities for strengthening poverty reduction programs. Causes of poverty and inequality in Iran. Dr. Hossein Raghfar, in the introduction of the aforementioned book (The Necessity of Fighting Poverty and Inequality in Iran), points out that the poor are more vulnerable to various forms of insecurity than others, writing that one of the main factors of urban poverty and some forms of insecurity must be sought in rural poverty and the widespread migration of villagers hoping to find a better future in cities. The lack of appropriate rural development infrastructure and the irregular and inappropriate distribution of public resources between urban and rural areas are among the main reasons for rural poverty and uncontrolled migration and the formation of informal settlements filled with insecurity on the outskirts of cities. Raghfar also refers to the oil economy as another cause of poverty in Iran; where the formation of anti-development institutions has prevented the realization of the fundamental capacities of the country's economy in achieving capabilities commensurate with its human, natural, and cultural talents, while also increasing inequality. In his view, poverty is the product of the death of ethics and the death of the social system; a society where all values are summarized in achieving material successes, and the opportunities to achieve these successes are not available to all citizens. Raghfar also mentions the lack of a comprehensive theory about poverty in Iran as one of the reasons for the continuation of evident forms of absolute poverty and its expansion in the country, considering the establishment of an egalitarian and democratic society as the way to escape the miseries of humiliating inequalities and the poverty arising from these inequalities. The drafting of a book on poverty by a researcher who has been imprisoned for his social-political activities for four years reflects another aspect of the importance of democratic transition and the roots of inequality in Iran. Clearly, Madani's research reveals that reducing existing painful poverty and inequalities is linked to the expansion and deepening of democratization.