Hyderabad: Iran's economic woes may not be as bad as that of North Korea's, but the country is reeling under US sanctions like N Korea is doing. Both the countries are suffering because they are pursuing nuclear programmes, as the US says.
Though other signatories of the Iran Deal stand by Iran in a sort of rebuttal to the US allegations that Iran is not complying with the Deal, N Korea remains defiant. US now particularly accuses Iran of persuing its missile programme which the US ally Israel sees as a great threat.
Some Iran watchers say that the US clamped down on Iran at Israel's bidding. Whatever the case might be, the grim reality is that the sanctions are there and Iran is hard put to it. Now that the US has threatened the countries importing Iranian oil it has further hit Iran's already precarious economic situation. Even the formidable economic and military power China, a strong Iran backer has retracted for fear of worsening an already bad relation with the US. China has decided not to import oil from Iran.
Iran does not have many ammunitions at hand to fight the worsening economic conditions. The poor and the lower middles class are already hit badly. And the authoriries have no clue how best to redress the situation. It gives subsidies in a lot of areas. But its capacity to do so on end is no longer possible. It has almost come to the end of the tether.
Prices of foods and other daily consumables have soared, and essential commodities are fast flying off the shelves. With depleting funds Iran finds it hard to supply things to people according to the demands. Country's businesses and industries are facing a tough time as Iranian currency value has come down making it difficult for Iranian companies to do international transactions.
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Problem with Iran is that it tried to be a welfare state and gave emphasis on bettering the lives for the poor and low income groups by way of subsidies and doles. But it did not do much for structural reforms which would pay dividends in the long run. So Iran's economy has remained fundamentally weak unable to stand the test of difficult times.
With the US mounting more pressure on the country and trying to cut off all of Iran's lifelines, it makes Iran more vulnerable to economic storms.
The US has two motives behind the sanctions. First, and which is obvious, is to pressure Iran into submission to the extent of forcing it to abandon all military projects that are perceived as threats by US allies Saudi Arabia (a hardcore enemy of Iran) and Israel (the country that dreams of a crippled Iran). Second, and this is long term and most important, is to effect a regime change in Iran. The US believes that if it can mount more pressures on Iran and can keep that for a sufficiently long time, the regime in Iran will implode paving the way for a new era.
