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Is Iran's Economy on the Brink of Collapse?

(Telegraph-UK) Ali Ansari - The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), long considered the shock troops of the revolution, are not as content with their lot as they used to be. Protected from the winds that regularly buffet the regime, members of the IRGC can normally expect to reap economic benefits from their privileged position. But leaks from IRGC commanders show that the financial largesse that oiled the political system is waning. Foreign sanctions are simply the salt rubbed into the self-inflicted wound of monumental mismanagement. Transparency, accountability and the rule of law, the hallmarks of a modern investment-led economy, are alien concepts. Structural reform of the economy would require a level of trust in the regime that doesn't exist. Inflation is officially at 40% (though most believe it to be higher) and the currency has lost more than half its value over the last two years. Ironically, one source of immediate salvation for the regime is the Biden Administration's lax enforcement of oil sanctions. The writer is Professor of Iranian History at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
2023-08-24 00:00:00
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