By Published On: May 8, 2023Categories: NEWS
On May 1, Sajad Padam, the head of Iran’s Social Security Organization, acknowledged the country’s economic crunch and the regime’s role in exacerbating it.

On May 1, Sajad Padam, the head of Iran’s Social Security Organization, acknowledged the country’s economic crunch and the regime’s role in exacerbating it.

 

He warned that Iran could soon be forced to sell Qeshm and Kish Islands to pay retirees’ pensions, stirring controversy within the regime and angering Iranian pensioners and workers. President Ebrahim Raisi, fearing a public backlash, fired Padam, who criticized the regime for sacrificing “clarity and honesty.”

Padam’s revelations highlight the ruling kleptocracy’s part in devastating Iran’s economy. Iran’s Social Security Organization (SHASTA), a holding company that oversees 187 companies in diverse sectors, has been bankrupt for years. Although owned by workers and retirees, its CEO and board of directors are appointed by the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, leaving the true owners without a managing role.

 

 

Under Hassan Rouhani’s order, SHASTA went private, and its shares were sold on Tehran’s Stock Exchange. The government’s inability to pay its debt to the Social Security Administration led to the sale of SHASTA’s shares, resulting in the bankruptcy of some pension funds and leaving workers and retirees in financial difficulty. The ruling theocracy’s rapacious need for funds to fuel illicit activities has led to the egregious plunder of workers’ and retirees’ hard-earned money. The pension funds’ crisis is not a recent phenomenon but a longstanding issue dating back to the early 1900s.

Iranian pensioners have held weekly rallies in recent years, protesting their deplorable conditions and the regime’s institutionalized corruption. In November 2022, Raisi dismissed the pension fund manager in fear of potential protests, but his Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, Solat Mortazavi, admitted that the dismissal of managers alone would not suffice in addressing the predicament pensioners face.Mortazavi stated, “The national pension fund is facing 75% dissatisfaction. In 1404 (2025-2026), our dispute will reach 80 quadrillion rials in funds affiliated with the Ministry of Labor Cooperation and Social Welfare.”

 

The Iranian regime’s deep-seated corruption has rendered it impotent in resolving the country’s economic crises. To ameliorate the pensioners’ plight, authorities must first tackle the pervasive corruption within the regime. However, this is unlikely to happen as the regime is entrenched in corruption, and such action would be akin to shooting the system in the leg. As the state-run Etemad daily warned, “The pensions funds’ crisis, like other social and economic problems, is like a timing bomb. It should be defused soon, or it will have devastating consequences.”

 

 

 

 

 


MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her siteTwitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTu

 

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