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| Behzad Jiddi |
Economist and political activist Behzad Jiddi assessed the future economic situation in Iran in the context of the results of the March elections, in an interview with Voice of America.
According to him, the further narrowing of the power circles in the Islamic Republic, due to the nature of the rent-based economy, will worsen the economic situation and increase socio-political turmoil.
He also pointed to the composition of the new parliament and the Assembly of Experts, stating, "When we look at the ruling side, we can see that the circle is gradually shrinking. In the past, different groups used to get elected to parliament, but the ruling system is now narrowing this circle. There is also an economic reason for this, which is linked to the rent-based rule in Iran."
The economist believes that as the power circle narrows in the Islamic Republic, the economy will continue to deteriorate due to the nature of the rent-based system.
"A rent-based system established by a ruling government relies solely on natural resources. What matters to them are only underground resources. This is becoming increasingly stronger in Iran. If we look at sectors like underground resources, gold, and copper, we can easily see that these sectors have grown over the past decade. Especially in the Azerbaijan region, we can clearly observe the increase in mining over the last ten years... Now, the ruling establishment of the Islamic Republic is narrowing the circle of power even further and selecting the people it desires. The reason for this returns to the rent system. An economy based on natural resources has no diversification," Jiddi stated.
He added, "We see that there is no domestic production, and unemployment is high. Naturally, the economy is tied to imports, and there are many variables in this area. One of the main variables is the fluctuations between the Iranian rial and foreign currencies, which can easily affect domestic prices. This completely disrupts economic stability. As a result, foreign investments continue to flee the country, and production continues to decrease. This increases the likelihood of conflict within the country and even within the political system."
Behzad Jiddi believes that the economic system created by the Islamic Republic is leading to more economic, social, and ecological disruptions in the non-Persian and non-Shia regions of Iran. He also emphasizes that Lake Urmia is a victim of this rent-based understanding in the economy.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Behzad Ciddi: İranda hakimiyyət dairəsinin daralması ilə iqtisadi sabitlik daha da pozulacaq