Planning to Eliminate Bread Subsidies and Concerns Over Increasing Poverty

Planning to eliminate bread subsidies and concerns over increasing poverty have received widespread attention in newspapers following President Hassan Rouhani's remarks during his visit to Gilan province on Wednesday. The newspaper Ta'adol dedicated its front page to Rouhani's speech at the Azadi Stadium in Rasht, quoting him as saying, "We are dealing with the 1+5." The newspaper noted that Rouhani spoke while his foreign minister was on a critical trip to regional and European countries, marking the first diplomatic show of strength after Lausanne, and the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council was completing another part of the diplomatic puzzle in the Kremlin. Now it was the President's turn to deliver the final word just hours after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved oversight of the implementation of the nuclear agreement. Ta'adol pointed out that "Rouhani emphasized the need to lift sanctions as a condition for starting an agreement just less than a week before the new and sensitive round of nuclear negotiations begins." While various signals are being sent from Washington to Moscow, all centered around Iran's nuclear negotiations, Rouhani is well aware of the significance of his words in front of the Iranian public. The newspaper Shahrvand evaluated the President's remarks as a "response to the U.S. Congress," while the newspaper Iran quoted him as saying, "Our negotiating party is the 1+5, not Congress." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, described Rouhani's statements as the "revolutionary positions of the President," quoting him as saying, "We defend the oppressed of the world." The newspaper Kayhan published Rouhani's remarks with the headline "Al Saud in delusion of dominance over the region, yesterday with dollars, today with bombs," noting that the President strongly criticized Saudi Arabia's aggression in Yemen and called for an end to the slaughter of the defenseless people of that country. The newspaper Aftab Yazd quoted Ali Qazi Askar, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Hajj affairs, stating, "The news of the assault on two teenagers is false." According to this newspaper, Ali Qazi Askar expressed regret over the incident at Jeddah airport and complained about the mischief of some individuals, websites, and media in distorting this event, stating that the news of the assault on two Iranian teenagers is false. He emphasized that "the Jeddah airport incident was not an assault, but an attempt at sexual harassment," adding that "thanks to the vigilance of the two dear teenagers and their timely reaction, no assault occurred, and two police officers were identified and arrested by Saudi authorities for their shameful actions, with senior Saudi officials promising to take decisive action against this inhumane and anti-Islamic act." The newspaper Sharq reported on the government's planning to "increase bread prices from July" and "eliminate bread subsidies." According to this newspaper, Ali Fazeli, the head of the Iranian Chamber of Guilds, announced on Wednesday the "planning to eliminate bread subsidies within the next three months," stating, "Since bread is the staple food of the people, especially the vulnerable class, we are seeking a solution to eliminate bread subsidies in the near future with the least harm." Simultaneously, economist Hossein Raghfar warned in an interview with Sharq about "increasing poverty with the liberalization of bread prices," and Mohammad Gholi Yousofi described the "elimination of bread subsidies" as a "hasty action," stating, "Caution is needed for the elimination of bread subsidies, as it is the staple food for most people." The newspaper Etemad reported on the "death of 9 infants" in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran and confirmed the existence of "hospital infections" in the neonatal section of this hospital. One day after the publication of Hossein Noosh Abadi's remarks about the continuation of the "ban on concerts" for Mohammad Reza Shajarian, the Iran newspaper reported that the spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance reiterated the existence of these restrictions, addressing this renowned Iranian musician, stating, "Mr. Shajarian is aware of where the restrictions come from and how he can resolve them." The newspaper Shahrvand reported that "two thousand food vendors have been prosecuted." This newspaper quoted Ali Akbar Siari, the Deputy Health Minister, as saying, "During the holiday days, health inspection teams conducted 9,000 inspections, resulting in 2,000 cases leading to prosecution, with about 200 to 300 shops also closed." Planning for the "elimination of bread subsidies" from July; "increasing poverty with the liberalization of bread prices." The newspaper Sharq reported on the government's planning to "increase bread prices from July" and "eliminate bread subsidies." According to this newspaper, Ali Fazeli, the head of the Iranian Chamber of Guilds, announced on Wednesday the "planning to eliminate bread subsidies within the next three months," stating, "Since bread is the staple food of the people, especially the vulnerable class, we are seeking a solution to eliminate bread subsidies in the near future with the least harm." The head of the Chamber of Guilds emphasized that "we must move towards distributing bread without subsidies throughout society," stating, "Subsidies to bakeries only create unreasonable rents in this sector. Additionally, the government allocates a budget to reduce the price of bread, but in the meantime, some bakeries waste all these efforts by selling subsidized flour to confectioneries and free bakeries." According to the newspaper Sharq, "Since bread prices have risen and the talk of eliminating its subsidy has emerged, concerns about providing the staple food for the people, especially the vulnerable class, have arisen," and just when "some experts warned that in some deprived areas and even in the southern parts of the capital, bread is being sold on credit, the government's action in this regard has shocked the people." Since December 2014, the price of bread increased by 20 to 30 percent across the country after two years, depending on the situation in each province, and "alongside that, 20 percent of bakeries in the country were also freed from subsidies." The newspaper noted that now, about six months after that increase in bread prices, the discussion of eliminating bread subsidies has resurfaced, and of course, Ali Fazeli, the head of the Iranian Chamber of Guilds, stated that "our goal, alongside a reasonable price, is to maintain the quality of bread, not to give subsidies that reduce the weight and quality of the bread, and with the liberalization of bakeries, there will no longer be an excuse for pressures from increased costs of labor and energy carriers." According to the newspaper Sharq, responsible officials claim that the aim of the new price increase for bread is to improve its "quality," but "the issue that arises in this context is providing that bread with minimal quality from the low-income sectors of society." Hossein Raghfar, an economist, warned in an interview with Sharq about "increasing poverty with the liberalization of bread prices," stating, "The situation of the lower class of the population is truly concerning; in some areas, people buy bread on credit, and with the rise in bread prices, a tsunami of price increases in other sectors will also occur. Governments everywhere are concerned about the situation of the people, but our government resembles a large bureaucratic machine, and officials are not in touch with the general public and the problems of the population." This economic expert emphasized that "the government is not completely honest in liberalizing prices, especially regarding bread. It was previously stated that a percentage of bakeries in some areas are free, while the rest provide bread with subsidies, but the free ones are more than expected. There is also no proper oversight over the quality of bread and flour. Bread is the staple food for a large part of our population, and its poor quality has harmful effects on people's health." Hossein Raghfar also told Sharq, "These are part of the structural adjustment policies or the programs of the 1990s. When the price of a basic commodity is liberalized, some people from the day after the liberalization must devise a solution to manage and survive; they spend their savings and assets and ultimately get closer to poverty." According to Hossein Raghfar, "Besides health and security, the responsibility of addressing the livelihood situation of the people also falls on the government, but in practice, by implementing wrong policies, it exacerbates poverty and increases social insecurity. The result of this approach by governments over the past 25 years has been divorce, rising addiction, increased frustration, suicide, and other social crises." Mohammad Gholi Yousofi, an economist, also described the "elimination of bread subsidies" as a "hasty action," stating, "Caution is needed for the elimination of bread subsidies, as it is the staple food for most people, and the plan to eliminate bread subsidies is only justifiable when we feel that the general public does not need support through subsidies or is capable of covering costs." This expert told Sharq, "There is no doubt that every healthy economy is free from subsidies, but whether our economy is healthy, where the resources obtained from eliminating subsidies will be allocated, and whether a better place for using these resources has been identified are important issues that must be considered in this plan." The death of at least 9 infants in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran; confirmation of the existence of infection in the neonatal section. The newspaper Etemad reported on the "death of 9 infants" in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran and confirmed the existence of "hospital infections" in the neonatal section of this hospital. Benafsha Samgis, a reporter for Etemad, while examining the deaths of at least "9 infants in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran," wrote that this news "was lost in the noise of welcoming the New Year and the 15-day closure of print media and the lethargy of news agencies at the end of last year, and after the New Year holidays, it was overshadowed by the strong reaction of the medical community to a television series." One of the staff members of Imam Khomeini Hospital, who wished to remain anonymous, told this newspaper, "The number of deceased infants was more than 9, and even one of the infants was born after years of waiting by the mother and father through artificial insemination," and "the hospital authorities were reluctant to publicize this issue but could not prevent the news of the deaths of 9 infants from being published." This hospital staff member stated, "The Acinetobacter infection also entered the neonatal intensive care unit, and the special neonatal unit was closed for more than ten days." Sadaf Alipour, the Deputy for Treatment at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, however, "only confirmed the news of the deaths of 9 infants," stating, "Of the 9 infants who were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of Imam Khomeini Hospital and died between December and March, only three infants were infected with the hospital infection Acinetobacter, and the cause of death for the other infants was underlying diseases." Mohammad Hajiaqa Jani, the Deputy for Treatment at the Ministry of Health, also did not deny this news but described "the occurrence of deaths in the intensive care unit and the outbreak of infection as a natural event," stating, "The deaths of 9 infants hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Imam Khomeini Hospital occurred not in one day, and contrary to rumors, this event happened over a long period." The Deputy for Treatment at the Ministry of Health emphasized that "the deaths of these infants occurred over time and were not sudden, and of course, it is a normal occurrence for deaths to happen in the intensive care unit." According to Etemad, Mohammad Hossein Meydahqan, the Director General of Supervision and Accreditation of Treatment Affairs at the Ministry of Health, also stated, "Imam Hospital is a reference treatment center for the entire country, and usually high-risk and complicated patients are referred to this hospital to the extent that when you visit the emergency room of this hospital, you never encounter ordinary patients. According to the report provided to us, and contrary to what was stated, the 9 infants died over long intervals, and our investigation into the mortality trend in the neonatal intensive care unit showed that the mortality rate in the hospital has not changed compared to before, and the investigation by the hospital death committee also indicated that the cause of death of the 9 infants was not solely due to hospital infection." Mohammad Hossein Meydahqan, while "considering the existence of infection in hospital environments, especially Imam Hospital, to be natural," confirmed the special conditions in the neonatal section of this hospital, stating, "After the positive results of cultures taken from the infants who died, the neonatal intensive care unit and the maternity ward of the hospital were isolated and disinfected, and the actions taken for sterilization of the section were confirmed by the infection control committee's resolutions." This official from the Ministry of Health told Etemad, "Families of the 9 deceased infants are entitled to receive compensation and damages if the hospital authorities are negligent, and families have the right to request further investigation into the cause of their child's death, and if any hospital officials are negligent, in addition to the families' files and requests being handed over to forensic medicine, the offenders will also be referred to the disciplinary court of the medical system and the court of medical offenses. However, in the reports I received, no negligence occurred." Nasrin Kazemian, the deputy head of the neonatal intensive care unit at Imam Khomeini Hospital, where the deaths of infants occurred, expressed ignorance about how Acinetobacter entered the neonatal intensive care unit but told Etemad, "The cause of death of the 9 infants who died before the New Year and the blood cultures of three of them tested positive for hospital-acquired Acinetobacter infection were recorded in their medical files, and a meeting was held to investigate the cause of their deaths.