The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), western powers have recently urged Tehran to resume talks in Vienna in order to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal. Those who want dialogue with Iran’s terrorist regime argue that reinstating the nuclear deal will help the country’s deteriorating economy.

The regime’s systemic corruption

The economy of Iran is damaged by the regime’s systemic corruption. Sanctions, however, play a secondary role in Iran’s deteriorating economic status. But let’s assume that sanctions are the sole cause of Iran’s economic woes. Sanctions have been imposed as a result of the regime’s ambitions to gain nuclear weapons, its support for terrorism, and its continued breaches of human rights.

“While Iran and China have a 25-year cooperation agreement and some forecasts indicated an increase in Iranian oil sales to China, data from the Tehran Chamber of Commerce show that Iran’s oil sales to China fell by more than $11 billion in the first eight months of 2021, compared to three years ago.” Saudi Arabia’s oil shipments to China increased dramatically at the same time,” the state-run Tejarat News reported on October 21.

 

 

Sanctions are Iran’s primary economic concern

According to Tehran’s supporters, sanctions are Iran’s primary economic concern, and Tehran could have them withdrawn quickly if it stopped all of its nefarious activities.

“The majority of the sanctions are imposed as a result of our ideology, and standing up for ideology comes at a cost.” The issue, however, is not about why and how punishments are applied. Why, then, do we refuse to pursue safe routes against sanctions while imposing significant economic consequences on the country?” On October 4, the state-run Eghtesad-e Pouya published an article.

It’s worth noting that, according to Iran’s Central Bank, Tehran’s oil export revenue in 2018 and 2019 was over $180 billion. However, it is unknown where these funds went. Yet, as two large protests erupted in 2018 and 2019, with people demanding their basic rights, it is evident that they were not utilized to address people’s grievances.

As per Reuters, the mullahs paid “$600 million” to expand Imam Hussein’s sacred mausoleum in Iraq in December 2020. Iranians, on the other hand, are fighting to make ends meet.

 

 

26 million people in the country lived in absolute poverty

On October 22, the state-run ILNA News Agency claimed that “the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare Labor stated in a report that until 2021, 26 million people in the country lived in absolute poverty.” In Iran, the poverty threshold varies between 10 and 15 million tomans. Meanwhile, the Iranian worker and employee salary base is estimated to be over four million tomans.

Even if sanctions were eliminated today, the economic situation in Iran would not improve to the benefit of the people. While Western countries pressure for talks, Iran’s dictatorship continues to pursue a misleading approach, stalling its feet on talks and striving to achieve a nuclear weapon.

 

 

Iran’s nuclear agreement

Iran’s nuclear agreement with international powers, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), restricted Tehran’s ability to enrich uranium below 5%. The JCPOA’s signatories argued the agreement restricted Iran’s nuclear development and gave it more time to “break out.”

In 2018, Iran began rapidly breaking its JCPOA commitments, demonstrating its ability to enrich uranium to a purity of 60 percent. As a result, it became clear that the JCPOA contained numerous loopholes that allowed the regime to pursue its nuclear development under secret.

Western powers should avoid making compromises or giving Tehran more time. Instead, they should reimpose all of the regime’s sanctions. The Iranian dictatorship is running out of time as it contends with a restive society and another uprising on the horizon.

 

 

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