Iran's Seventh Development Plan Faces Serious Challenges; Weaker than Previous Plans

As the dispute between the government and parliament escalates over how to approve the Seventh Development Plan bill, the Research Center of the Parliament has 'lost hope' for this plan, with one parliament member stating that this weak plan cannot put the country on the right path to progress. The Research Center reported that, considering the previous performance of the Sixth Development Plan, the realization of the Seventh Plan will be similar to past plans. This research body attributed such a disappointing forecast to 'unrealistic expectations', 'lack of financial resources', and 'incompatibility with the country's capacities'. Gholamreza Noori, a representative from Bostanabad in the 11th Parliament, criticized the Seventh Development Plan, saying it is weaker than previous plans and cannot set the country on the right path to progress. Noori pointed out the two-year delay of the government in sending the Seventh Development Plan bill to the parliament, stating: 'The thirteenth government sent the Seventh Development Plan to the parliament about two years late, and after significant delays in sending the bill to the parliament, we saw that the Seventh Development Plan was drafted with many flaws, and what surprised me more was that my colleagues in the Joint Commission not only did not resolve the issues but even worsened the bill.' He added: 'This bill and the decisions of the Joint Commission cannot be a developmental plan for the country at all. There are fundamental and basic flaws in the Seventh Development Plan, and on the other hand, the targets set in the bill are completely unrealistic; the additional structures created in this plan are not correct or acceptable at all, and some provisions, especially in the cultural field, will cause problems in society.' The Bostanabad representative also pointed to the unrealistic targets of the Seventh Development Plan, saying: 'In the economic sector, an 8% growth has been considered, while we know that in recent years, the average growth has not been above 2%.' Masoud Pezeshkian, a representative from Tabriz in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also rejected the government's prediction regarding the Seventh Development Plan on Tuesday, stating that the 8% economic growth mentioned in the bill is not feasible. He added: 'An 8% economic growth is predicted for Iran, while the economic growth of Iran during the 1990s was overall one or close to zero, and in recent quarters, Iran's economic growth has barely reached 3%.' The 'Seventh Development Plan' bill was made public in May of this year, which includes goals such as '8% economic growth', '3.9% annual employment growth', equivalent to one million jobs, alongside achieving '9.5% inflation' by the end of the program's implementation. A parliament member rejected the government's prediction; the 8% economic growth is not feasible. After a 'non-public' meeting in the morning, the parliament voted positively on the 'generalities' of the Seventh Development Plan bill. The review of the Seventh Plan begins; media mobilization of the parliament and government under the 'code name' of development. Criticism from 20,000 'Hemmati' regarding the 'Seventh Plan'; the likelihood of the bill returning to the Joint Commission.