Economy

RFL/RE – A group of Iranian shareholders who have suffered losses in recent months have held a protest outside the parliament building in Tehran saying that government policies led to a decline in stock prices. Some of the protesters on January 20 chanted slogans against Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, calling him a liar, according to amateur videos posted online. Stock market investors …

Al-Arabia – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said funding for Iran could lead to “terror on steroids” on Tuesday, in an apparent warning against world powers easing sanctions against Tehran as they seek a new nuclear deal. “The last thing you want to do … is pour tens of billions of dollars into this apparatus. Because what will you get? …

RFL/RE – A homeless mother and her young child sleep on a night bus as it weaves through the empty streets of the Iranian capital, Tehran. The pair are among a growing number of Iranians who are resorting to sleeping in public buses out of economic desperation. Photos of the mother and daughter have gone viral on social media, serving …

VOA — Civil servants in one of Iran’s most powerful sectors, the judiciary, held rare demonstrations on Sunday against the government’s refusal to increase their pay. Ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi, who assumed his post in August, had proposed a salary hike in the last weeks of his previous job as judicial chief. But the new government which he leads changed its …

Iran-HRM – While rents in Tehran and its suburbs have risen by more than 50 percent, according to the central bank, official reports from the capital suggest that some people are forced to sleep in high-speed buses at nights. According to state-run Tejarat News website, homeless Iranian men have taken to sleeping in Tehran buses for 12-25k tomans (under$1) a …

iranintl – A conservative newspaper in Tehran warned on Sunday that if the government’s proposed new budget is adopted it might lead to a “major social explosion.” “If the government’s budget bill for the next Iranian year, [starting late March] is implemented, it will create a lot of problems for the people and might lead to a major social explosion …

Iranwire – The outlook of any future revival of the JCPOA remains opaque. In the meantime, the Islamic Republic is in desperate need of oil revenues. Officials from different arms of government and industry have been drafted in to help maintain a shady, mostly secret set of mechanisms for the ongoing sale of Iranian oil. When these covert activities occasionally …

Iranwire – “Unfortunately, according to statistics, Tehran is the most expensive capital in the world in terms of house prices,” Esmaeil Hosseinzehi, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament’s Development Committee , told ISNA news agency on December 11, 2001. “Some people who lost their capital in the stock market have today brought the rest it into the housing market, with a view …

Iran’s parliament passed legislation on December 15 to raise teachers’ salaries following several days of countrywide protests and a strike that impacted the Islamic republic’s education system.The legislation had initially obtained emergency approval on December 14 following a three-day strike by thousands of teachers and educators that culminated with hundreds of demonstrators gathering in front of the parliament building in Tehran on …

Iranwire – With a jump in foreign exchange prices in the open market in Iran, prices in the official market and the Integrated Currency Trading System (NIMA) market have relatively stabilized. But how reliable is such stability, and who will benefit? In the last few days, the gap between the price of the dollar in the open market and that …