Media Speculation in Iran; Formation of Ministry of Commerce Marginalized

The formation of the Ministry of Commerce has been sidelined, according to the newspaper "Donya-e-Eqtesad," with neither the government showing interest in establishing the ministry nor the parliament in a hurry to approve the bill. The author of the newspaper states that the bill for the formation of the Ministry of Commerce must be approved by two-thirds of the representatives, and since it "does not have the capability to gain votes in the parliament," it has been deprioritized. Ali Jaddi, the deputy head of the Industries and Mines Commission of the parliament, also mentioned that out of about 23 members of this commission, only 4 were in favor of forming the Ministry of Commerce. The Research Center also announced its opposition to the formation of the Ministry of Commerce a few weeks ago. The bill for the formation of the Ministry of Commerce was submitted to the parliament before the impeachment of former Minister Fatemi Amin of the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade (IMT), which some experts interpret as an attempt to prevent the impeachment. After the government’s unsuccessful efforts to separate the commerce sector from industry, mining, and trade and sending the bill to the parliament to keep Seyed Reza Fatemi Amin at the head of the IMT and his subsequent dismissal, the Research Center of the parliament has now declared its absolute opposition to the formation of the Ministry of Commerce, stating it is contrary to the constitution. In a detailed report released by the Research Center of the parliament, one of the challenges referred to as a "threat" is the historically import-oriented view of commerce, which suggests that the formation of the Ministry of Commerce would lead to an increase in "unnecessary intermediaries" in the economy, ultimately resulting in higher prices for goods. Reza Ghaibi, a journalist and former advisor to the deputy minister of IMT, recently told "Voice of America" that "the formation of the Ministry of Commerce would lead to the distribution of currency rent." The Research Center's report also pointed to the intensification of price controls, stating that this form of policy-making for market regulation would lead the country into a destructive cycle of production and exacerbate inflation and crises. The Research Center emphasized that after the formation of the Ministry of Commerce, agencies would face confusion in their duties, which would create significant costs for adapting to the new structure. According to this center's report, these issues are part of the evidence showing that the Ministry of Commerce would disrupt the administrative affairs of the country's food security, and its formation is "contrary to the principles of a proper administrative system emphasized in higher documents." The report refers to Article 10 of Principle 3 of the Constitution, which calls for the establishment of a proper administrative system and the elimination of unnecessary organizations, as well as Articles 10 and 12 of the general policies of the administrative system, which advocate for streamlining, aligning, and rationalizing the administrative structure, focusing on effectiveness and efficiency in processes and administrative methods, and Article 16 of the general policies of resistance economy, which calls for rationalizing the size of the government and eliminating parallel and unnecessary agencies and excessive costs. It is noteworthy that the thirteenth government submitted a bill consisting of a single article and six notes titled "Bill for the Establishment of the Ministry of Commerce" to the Islamic Consultative Assembly, which was approved in a session on May 1 of this year. Previously, the government of Ebrahim Raisi attempted to establish a "Commerce Organization" under the presidency instead of a ministry, which was halted due to opposition from the parliament. The parliament voted for the "urgency" of forming the Ministry of Commerce, as the Raisi government continues its efforts to organize commerce affairs; this time, it aims for a "ministry" instead of an "organization." The establishment of the Commerce Organization represents a confrontation between the government and parliament to evade oversight, continuing the policy of "bartering" in the Islamic Republic, from tea and rice to medicine and wool. A former official of the Ministry of Commerce of Iran told Voice of America that the return of this ministry means the distribution of currency rent.