Tehran, Iran – Iran is implementing a contingency plan for basic governance as a threat to the government Another war with the United States And Israel is big.
President Massoud Pezheshkian gathered the governors of Iran’s border provinces as well as their finance ministers in Tehran on Tuesday to assign the governors some responsibilities in the event of war, state media said. A task force was also formed to increase the flow of essential goods, especially food.
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Governors have been empowered to import goods without using foreign currency, engage in barter and allow sailors to bring in products under simplified customs rules, the state-run IRNA news agency said.
“In addition to the import of essential goods, the governor has the authority to bring in all goods directly related to people’s living standards and market needs to maintain market balance and prevent hoarding,” Pezeshkian said at the meeting.
“By implementing this policy, much of the pressure created by brutal sanctions is neutralized,” he said, referring to the harsh sanctions imposed by the US as well as the UN sanctions. Re-enforced in Septemberwhich the Iranian government blames for the country’s economic crisis.
But while the government focuses on the basics, nearly all of Iran’s 90 million people and all sectors of the country’s troubled economy are suffering from unprecedented internet shutdowns.
The theocratic state imposed a digital blackout on January 8 as nationwide protests reached a fever pitch, followed by Thousands of Iranians killed.
An intranet set up to provide some basic services during the state-imposed shutdown is slow and has failed to boost online businesses. Even traditional shops are struggling to attract customers.
Financial difficulties persist
Amid the massive deployment of armed security personnel, most shops are now open in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar – where protests against poor economic conditions began on December 28 – and other downtown business districts.
But a shopkeeper in the Grand Bazaar told Al Jazeera that business activity is a fraction of what it was a few weeks ago.
“There is not much life and energy in the market these days,” he said on condition of anonymity. “The worst thing is that everything is still so unpredictable. You can even see it in the exchange rate.”
Iranian Rial is in freefall After markets partially reopened this week, confidence in the national currency is waning.
The riyal hit a new all-time low of around 1.6 million per US dollar on Wednesday. Each greenback replaced about 700,000 riyals a year ago and about 900,000 riyals in mid-2025.
However, Central Bank of Iran chief Abdolnaser Hemati told a meeting with governors in Tehran that the currency market was “following its natural path”.
He said the government-run market set up to manage imports and exports had registered $2.25 billion worth of foreign exchange deals in recent weeks, which he described as an “acceptable and significant figure”.
The comments by Hemmati – who also headed the central bank from 2018 to 2021 and was impeached as finance minister in March – immediately drew fire from the ultraconservative Kayhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The newspaper said his comments when he re-emerged as central bank governor last month were at odds with the reality of a turbulent currency market as well as his promises of price stability for essential commodities.
While facing foreign pressure, Pezeshkian’s government has also been dogged by hardliners at home who have demanded an immediate overhaul of his relatively moderate cabinet.
The spat became so serious that the Supreme Leader publicly intervened and told lawmakers and other officials in a speech last week that he was “prohibited” from “insulting” the President at a time when the country should focus on providing essential goods to the people.
Grant Scheme
For his part, Pezeshkian has focused his rhetoric solely on “combating corruption” through an initiative that eliminated the subsidized exchange rate used to import some goods, including food.
Pezheshkian’s government argued that the subsidized allocated currency was being misused by state-linked institutions. This scheme was supposed to make imported food cheaper, but it didn’t happen.
The money freed up by the initiative has been distributed to Iranians as electronic coupons to buy food from selected stores at prices set by the government.
But each citizen will get only 10 million riyals per month for four months. This was the amount Just over $7 When it was announced earlier this month amid protests, it now stands at close to $6 as the national currency’s depreciation further erodes purchasing power.
To add insult to injury, the announcement of the subsidy scheme contributed to a sudden tripling or quadrupling in the prices of some essential commodities, including cooking oil and eggs. Iran’s annual inflation rate remains at around 50 percent and has been on the rise in recent months.
The two major state-owned carmakers, which hold a large monopoly in Iran’s auto industry, are also positioning themselves for another price hike as the end of the Iranian calendar year approaches in March.
One firm, Iran Khodro, said on Tuesday it would raise prices by up to 60 percent, while local media reported another, Saipa, would follow suit. The government has reportedly intervened to delay or reduce the rate hike.
Tehran Stock Exchange’s main index TEDPIX continued its recent slide on Wednesday, losing 30,000 points to stand at 3,980,000. Last week the index hit an all-time high of 4,500,000, up from early January.