Note: Leadership, Missiles, and Sistan and Baluchestan

While the exit of the United States from the JCPOA and the return of U.S. sanctions have brought a new wave of pressure and limitations on Iran's damaged and fragile economy, the Leader of the Islamic Republic has once again emphasized pursuing missile projects. A few days ago, Ayatollah Khamenei, addressing European countries and the U.S., stated regarding missile projects: "The Islamic Republic will certainly not give up on its elements of power, one of which is defensive power; defense from afar." Regardless of how the core of power in the Islamic Republic will withstand increasing external pressures in this area (the IRGC's missile activities), it is noteworthy that the top of the political system is indifferent to other elements of power. It is unclear how long weapons, repression, censorship, and missiles will assist in maintaining the prevailing authoritarianism in a country where unemployment, poverty, production stagnation, and social damages are on the rise. In the same speech, in addition to missiles and military force, he referred to two other elements: first, "the strategic depth of the Islamic Republic and presence in regional countries," and the other, "the unity of the people and the community under the banner of Islam"; an element that somewhat defines "citizens who are obedient and aligned with the Supreme Leader and support him," rather than describing free citizens whose basic and civil rights are respected and fulfilled by a government indifferent to their religion, beliefs, gender, and ethnicity. In assessing the national power of countries, single-element evaluations have been sidelined. The approach of experts who rely solely on military variables and military spending or those who only value economic indicators (such as income and gross national product) is influenced by multi-variable approaches and combined models. Approaches that assess various and numerous elements (such as territorial, population, gross national product, export percentage, research and development quality and quantity, human resources, and social and political factors). For instance, indicators of human development or the percentage of the population deprived of access to clean drinking water, or per capita renewable fresh water resources and environmental sustainability indicators, or the quality of basic rights and civil liberties, press freedom, and the election of the ruling body through free, fair, and just elections, or corruption indicators are considered in the final assessment of power elements. Undeniably, the core of power in the Islamic Republic, as the leader of the system also states, focuses on achieving hard power elements (military force and missile weapons) or regional presence, while human and sustainable development and its requirements have been damaged under the shadow of the government's incompetence and inefficiency, deepening and expanding corruption and lack of transparency. Even economic growth has been affected by this situation and is distorted under the shadow of oil and gas rent incomes; even reports from government officials indicate that 50% of production units have shut down or operate at less than 30% of their capacity. Data related to the weakness of economic, social, cultural, and political power elements are not few; however, here, we will only refer to some data about a deprived province of the country; data that shows how the government, indifferent to the importance of social backing, welfare, and the vitality of citizens, relies on non-democratic authority, weapons, repression, and regional adventurism to maintain its establishment. These bitter and official reports depict a crisis that has gripped a significant portion of Iranian citizens (both Sunni and Shia). The CEO of rural water and wastewater in Sistan and Baluchestan has stated that more than three thousand villages in this province lack a water supply network. The drinking water needed for these villages is supplied through mobile water tankers and wells. Many villagers are forced to travel several dozen kilometers just to bathe. The representative of Zahedan in the parliament has also stated that 75% of the people in Sistan and Baluchestan suffer from "food poverty." He emphasized that they "do not have clean water to drink, do not have bread, and are in poor living conditions in every aspect you can think of." Additionally, villagers are struggling with malnutrition and various diseases; "even in Zahedan city, more than 350,000 people do not have piped clean water, and in many parts of the city, water is supplied by tanker." It is noteworthy that Zahedan, with a population of one million, has over 30% slum dwellers; a situation that means nothing but poverty, unemployment, and increasing social harms. While the Islamic Republic continues its costly presence in Syria, as another bitter witness, the 64-bed hospital plan in Chabahar has only progressed to the level of fencing and building a one-meter wall after 28 years since its groundbreaking. In the field of literacy and student education, there are also numerous grim data; the head of the Education and Research Commission in parliament admits that "the most tent schools are located in Sistan and Baluchestan." The highest number of dilapidated schools in the country is in this province, such that more than 30% of classrooms (about 6,000 classrooms) are dilapidated. While the top of the political system thinks about regional presence and missile activities, the budget for the Organization for Renovation, Development, and Equipment of Schools has significantly decreased this year compared to last year. In another area, the village of Kumb, located five kilometers from Chabahar and with a population of over 23,000, is still without electricity. There are many such dismal examples; in humid weather and temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, the impoverished residents of Chahardeh who lost their homes to fire a few months ago still live in tents without water and electricity; just as many residents of Kermanshah province still live in dire conditions with minimal facilities months after the earthquake. In this brief overview, we focused only on some data from one province of the country; "a sample of the problems" of a significant portion of Iranian citizens; realities that are reproducing the suffering of the people and social harms. In the face of this situation, however, the Leader of the Islamic Republic insists on missiles, military power, and security presence in regional countries instead of emphasizing and focusing on alleviating deprivation and expanding welfare and economic development based on national solidarity, considering them elements of the system's power, and when he speaks of the people, he only expects obedience and cooperation from them.