The Supreme Leader has ordered the military to divest from businesses and commercial holdings that are not directly related to their main jobs.
This is a response to the widespread protests that took place across Iran a few weeks ago. It is also a response to the collapse of several fraudulent financial institutions that were run by regime officials. The institutions were set up with the help of investors, but collapsed when the promised high interest could not be paid.
However, another more sinister explanation could be that the Supreme Leader is attempting to deceive Europe into taking legal measures that would allow deals and investments to continue, even if the United States issues more sanctions or withdraws from the 2015 nuclear deal.
Despite Europe worries about Iran’s belligerence and its ballistic missile program, it still refuses to say or do anything because of fears that it could affect the nuclear agreement. And the Iranian regime is making the most of it.
At it stands now, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) controls a huge portion of the Iranian economy, with some claiming it is in control of almost a third. But poor leadership and management is leading to the country’s economic collapse and the people of Iran are fed up of seeing the nation’s wealth being plundered.
There are direct links between the Iranian economy and the interventionist policies and its politically corrupt status. The Iranian regime is an “exporter of the revolution”, so ironically, any cutbacks with regards to these policies will automatically result in adverse effects inside Iran.
This is a catch 22 situation that the Iranian regime is unable to get itself out of. And it must not be forgotten that it was the regime itself that got itself into this situation.
Despite this situation, the people that are most affected by the economic situation are the hardworking middle and lower classes of Iran. Right now, many people are not able to afford even the most basic of essentials and they know that unless there is political change, their situation will probably not improve.
US President Donald Trump has, unlike his European counterparts, spoken out about the level of corruption within the Iranian regime. He has said that the United States is watching Iran and expressed his support for the people of Iran that are the main victims of the corruption that has led to great poverty in the country.
The Europeans are reluctant to comment because they fear that it will affect the nuclear agreement. However, their silence and inaction is what will derail the deal because Trump had made it clear that he will scrap it unless Europe fixes the flaws it contains.
