Khamenei Claims in Meeting with Workers: Pockets Will Be 'Full' and the Country Will Become 'Wealthy'

Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, claimed during a 'selective' meeting with a group of workers on April 24 that with a leap in production, the country and its people will become wealthy, and workers' pockets and hands will be full. According to Iranian media reports, Khamenei emphasized that a 'skilled, motivated, and enthusiastic worker' is essential for the 'leap in production' and that achieving the year's slogan requires public participation. However, statistics show that a significant portion of job seekers have exited the labor market due to economic, social, and political issues, and the emigration of human resources from the country has reached its highest historical level. The newspaper 'Jahan Sanat' reported in December 2023 that 'Iranian workers are seeking to migrate to Iraq, particularly to the city of Erbil.' The newspaper noted that countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the UAE are other destinations for Iranian labor. Rasul Sadighi, a member of the Elite Migration Working Group of the Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic, also stated that based on a national survey titled 'Social Capital,' the desire to emigrate among Iranians over 18 years old has increased from 23% in 2014 to 46% in 2021. Khamenei also claimed that 'some young people have neither the desire to work nor are they looking for it, and some only consider desk jobs as work.' Critics, however, view the leader's claims as a diversion and believe that the lack of suitable jobs, along with low wages and income-cost imbalances, has left current jobs without applicants. Some experts refer to a report by the Tasnim news agency in December 2023, which stated that long working hours and the difficulty of work in exchange for low wages have led workers in production units to switch to other jobs, prioritizing informal jobs, as even street vending offers significantly higher income than working in factories and production units. In another part of his remarks on Wednesday, Khamenei stated that sanctions are becoming less effective and cited international sources claiming that an increase in gross national production has occurred in Iran. The newspaper 'Donya-e-Eqtesad' wrote on March 7 that the economic growth that has occurred in the country is not productive growth, and people do not feel its impact. According to the newspaper, an analysis of data from the Statistical Center shows that the subgroups with the highest growth among major economic activities generally lack a productive aspect and mainly include intermediary and oil-related activities. Reports indicate that the national average poverty line has reached nearly 24 million tomans, and in Tehran, it has exceeded 30 million tomans, while the minimum wage this year is slightly more than 11 million tomans, a figure that Khamenei did not refer to, nor did he mention workers' protests regarding this low wage.