khamenei’s priorities
Upcoming “Elections” in Iran anything but FREE
Up to a few weeks ago, the upcoming elections in Iran gave rise to hopes that Ahmadinejad’s successor might be someone who can create a paradigm shift in Iran’s priorities.
Those hopes died out quite quickly as over 680 candidates were disqualified leaving only Khamenei’s puppets on the field.
Khamenei’s Priorities are OUTbound
Based on Khamenei’s actions and rhetoric in the past, no one should have been surprised: the Supreme Leader has not flinched from his policies since the crisis over Iran’s suspect nuclear program blew up. In fact, Khamenei’s policies can be summed up as being OUTbound, focusing on Iran’s positioning in the Middle East, instead of being INbound and focusing on the livelihood of the Iranian people.
Money that should have allowed Iranians to enjoy the luxuries of an energy-rich nation is consistently channeled outward to support terrorist groups and Syria and a highly suspect nuclear program.
Khamenei ignores internal economic priorities
Iran’s strategy of denial and non-transparency, together with its Armageddon-type rhetoric regarding its nuclear program, led to sanctions and an estimated cost of over $100 Billion, leaving the Iranian economy to an all-time low.
Iran’s economy, recently ranked by Reuters at 168 out 177, is in shambles. On a macro-economic level, the Rial has devalued by over 80%, inflation is estimated at 40%, the deficit has reached an all-time high of $133 billion and the future looks bleak.
On the level of the average Iranian, these macro indicators are translated into a drastic decrease in purchasing power: natural gas/diesel/gasoline prices have risen steeply (800%, 900% and 400% respectively), real estate in Tehran has risen over 100% in one year, imports of medicine have dropped by 54% (imports of cars and cloth are dropping steadily) and food shortages are growing daily.
Iran’s nuclear program – asset or liability?
Notwithstanding the probable military aspect of Iran’s nuclear program, no one, least of all the IAEA and the UN, disputes the rights of Iran to produce nuclear electricity but nearly everything about Iran’s insistence on its nuclear program just does not make sense.
Iran has relatively no uranium to fuel its nuclear ambitions meaning that it will always be dependent on foreign supplies to run its reactors. Furthermore, Iran’s attempts at hiding the true nature of its nuclear program have increased the costs of establishing and maintaining nuclear plants by huge investments in underground facilities and geographical isolation.
On the other hand, Iran has the 4th largest reserves of oil and 2nd largest reserves of natural gas in the world – enough energy to power Iran for centuries.
Furthermore, green energy in the form of Hydro, Wind or Solar has huge potential that is wholly untapped: A sound solar energy program could supply 13 times the electricity needs at a fraction of the cost of a nuclear power as well as a release from sanctions – A real win-win-win situation.
And yet, the Iranian regime, with Khamenei at its head repeatedly chooses to place its nuclear aspirations and its support of terrorism before the needs of its people and that means that the next president has to continue toeing the line of an economic policy that is based on fear.
Despite his repeated denials concerning weapons of mass-destruction, Khamenei’s nuclear gamble at the expense of the Iranian people makes sense only if he does intend to build a bomb designed to be a game changer for Iran in the Middle East. Once that happens, the potential for an all-out, perhaps even nuclear, war will be imminent with devastating repercussions for all.
Elections will Strengthen Khamenei and Weaken the Iranian People
Until then, the Iranian people are the real victims and due to the laws governing elections in Iran, they will continue suffering since the next president will not represent the people of Iran but will represent the priorities of their Supreme Leader.
In general, elections are meant to represent the people who set out to vote for their priorities and their conscience. The elections in Iran, as well as the next president of Iran, represent the priorities and the conscience of one man alone – a Supreme Leader who seems to be blind to the needs of his people at the expense of his regime’s dominance at all costs.
Update: Iranians Protest Against Dictator Khamenei
- Support Syria: https://iran2407.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/khameneis-priority-support-syria-at-all-costs/
- Power/Terror: https://iran2407.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/khameneis-priorities-power-through-terror/
- Attacking Khamenei’s Priorities: https://iran2407.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/khameneis-nuclear-priority-under-attack/
Here’s a persian version – please share:
IRAN 24/07 