Subsidies: A Hot Topic in Iranian Newspapers

Official reactions to the promises made by some candidates in the twelfth presidential election have caught the attention of several Iranian newspapers. The daily Bahar has headlined: "250,000 Toman Subsidy = 6,000 Toman Gasoline." According to this newspaper, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the spokesperson for the eleventh government, reacted on Tuesday to the election promises regarding a 250,000 Toman subsidy, stating: "If the subsidy is to be 250,000 Toman, the price of energy carriers must increase sixfold." He added that those making such claims should at least explain where the funding for this 250,000 Toman subsidy will come from. The Bahar newspaper also quoted the government spokesperson saying, "In 2013, the growth rate was negative 6 (-6), and now it has become positive. Have the actions taken from 2013 until now been considered? When you say there is a crisis now, what do you say about 2013 when inflation was over 40 percent and growth was negative 6? Wasn't that a crisis?" The daily Etemad also featured a headline on Wednesday titled "The Curse of Astronomical Promises," stating that Nobakht elaborated on the main electoral slogans of the rivals of the current president during his weekly meeting with the media, and he deemed a threefold increase in subsidies possible only if energy prices were raised sixfold. According to this newspaper, "The government spokesperson, based on statistics and documented by the Court of Audit, stated that the total sales of the Oil and Gas Company are 36,800 billion Toman, but it cannot distribute all of it among the people. The share of the organization (Targeted Subsidies) from the Oil and Gas Company is 23,900 billion Toman. The share of the Gas Company in this calculation is 15,400 billion Toman, and the Electricity Company is 16,700 billion Toman, totaling 69,000 billion Toman, with the share of the Electricity Company set aside for investment in its sector. Therefore, considering legal deductions, 36,400 billion Toman remains for the Targeted Subsidies Organization to manage." Etemad quoted Nobakht stating: "In 2016, 41,000 billion Toman in cash subsidies were paid, in addition to 480 billion Toman for food security and 500 billion Toman for health. Thus, the total money available for subsidies is 36,400 billion Toman, but the payment is 42,000 billion Toman, and we took the difference from the treasury." Mehdi Pazouki, an economist, wrote in a note titled "Increasing Subsidies, An Empty Promise" in the daily Arman about the promises of candidates like Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ebrahim Raisi regarding increasing cash subsidies: "In recent decades, a phenomenon known as charlatanism has entered the Iranian economy. Charlatanism, or deceptive and populist economic promises, is a phenomenon where individuals make promises to the people without expert consideration, and it is unclear on what basis these promises and slogans are made; promises that not only do not have a positive impact on the Iranian economy and the situation of the impoverished and weak class but also create turmoil in society." The Arman columnist emphasized that "in reality, with 45,000 Toman (cash subsidy), no meaningful economic investment can be made, but the total amount mentioned annually is 42,500 billion Toman, which is a significant amount exceeding the total development budget of the country." He wrote that "subsidies were not only not targeted in the tenth government but also led to the emergence of problems in the Iranian economy and increased government costs." This economist then reminded that the current year's total budget was realized at 282,000 billion Toman, of which 208,000 billion Toman relates to the current budget, including salaries of government employees, teachers, military and law enforcement personnel, pension funds, and subsidies, while "42,000 billion Toman" pertains to "development budget." Therefore, given this situation, how do the two principlist candidates, Mr. Ebrahim Raisi and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, plan to increase the subsidy amounts? Meanwhile, Kayhan emphasized in its Thursday edition that "the costs of the eleventh government are higher than those of the previous five governments." This newspaper wrote: "Audit reports in the last three recent governments show that in the last four years, the total public expenditures of the government in the budgets from 2013 to 2016 were 880,000 billion Toman, while public expenditures in the budgets from 2009 to 2012 were over 409,000 billion Toman and in the budgets from 2005 to 2008 were 257,000 billion Toman." Thus, "in the eleventh government, public budget spending has doubled compared to the tenth government and 1.5 times that of the combined ninth and tenth governments." Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, harshly attacked Hassan Rouhani in Kayhan's editorial titled "The Devil's Rope," stating that the eleventh government has not only failed to remove the shadow of war but has also, through expressions of helplessness and numerous concessions to the adversary, sharpened the enemy's appetite. The editorial writer of Kayhan emphasized that Hassan Rouhani's government "has encouraged military attack by expressing weakness and inability against the U.S. and its allies, but the U.S. knows well that in Iran, it faces pure-hearted people and self-sacrificing warriors who dare not attack, not with some officials—only some of them—who are willing to commit suicide out of fear of death." The daily Shargh, however, dedicated its front page to the remarks of Mohammad Javad Zarif, quoting the foreign minister of the eleventh government as saying: "The people's choice will determine the direction the country will take in the next four years. To maintain Iran's power, it is necessary to continue the policies of the past four years." According to this newspaper, Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized that "some friends have a bit of an allergy to accepting that diplomacy can be effective," stating: "These friends believe that those who talk about diplomacy do not pay attention to other aspects of Iran's power; however, the reality is that we had this power in the past and had the same resources, but we were neither invited to any international meetings nor did anyone take us seriously. On the other hand, new pressures were imposed on the people every day." The foreign minister of the eleventh government cited the example of aircraft purchases, stating: "Look at the same friends who referred to the purchase of aircraft as 'the flight of paper airplanes in the election atmosphere'; now these paper airplanes are on the ground, and the gentlemen themselves have boarded them." Abbas Abdi commented on the electoral slogans of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ebrahim Raisi in the daily Shargh, stating: "Their attempt is to attract those for whom the economy is important, not just focusing on a specific class. In fact, in their minds, what Ahmadinejad did is imprinted." This reformist political analyst pointed out that "negative votes in this election are high, indicating that further destruction does not help any individual," stating: "Principlist candidates, as they have nothing to offer and cannot define themselves positively, resort to destruction; however, at least Mr. Qalibaf's negative vote is around forty percent, making his task particularly difficult in Tehran." The daily Sobhe No, close to Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, featured a front-page photo of the tenth parliament speaker criticizing the proposal to increase subsidies, headlined: "Ali Larijani Critiques the Proposal to Increase Subsidies." With the elections approaching, the political landscape is becoming clearer. In the latest remarks from the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, he explicitly criticized the promise of increasing subsidies made by two well-known candidates. This newspaper simultaneously reported another headline right above the photo of Ali Larijani, emphasizing that "political brokers oppose the interests of the people," stating: "Political brokers are unwilling to give up even a bit of their rights, astronomical salaries, and bonuses to make the people's table more colorful." Sobhe No also accused Ali Larijani of "criticizing the supportive slogans of the government's critics on one hand while quietly passing over the extensive disqualifications of the Tehran City Council on the other." This newspaper close to Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf emphasized that "when Ali Larijani's associates launched the campaign for the principlists supporting Rouhani, there was no longer an excuse for separating from the principlist front." The daily Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in its Thursday edition quoted Parviz Sarvari, a principlist member of the Tehran City Council, criticizing the executive and supervisory bodies of the city council elections for approving the qualifications of some political prisoners from 2009. Sarvari told this newspaper: "Some individuals have been approved for qualification who have effective convictions and have spent years in prison, while our friends who are reputable and warriors of the Sacred Defense have been disqualified," and "given these disqualifications, an engineering of the elections is taking shape to trap the rival in ups and downs."