Iran's economic crisis forces its citizens to queue for subsidized food

Just after dawn, Fatemeh Ansari Mokhtari I was alone in front of the supermarket Shahid Baharloo from Tehran, catching the edge of his black chador.

A few hours later, he was still there, in front of a long line, when a refrigerated truck stopped and the driver unloaded a lamb raised in Australia, wrapped in white muslin. 69 year old woman would receive 3 kilograms of state-subsidized meat, its monthly allowance.

"It's nice that we have this at least, if not, what would we do?" He asks. "It's also bread and milk, the pressure is immense. "

The sidewalk where Mokhtari spent most of this Saturday morning is a front line in what looks more and more like a war economy, with rationed red meat, while speculators and smugglers thrive. The scheme Iran does not face a Venezuelan-style collapse, but new sanctions imposed by the United States have reduced oil revenuesthey reached rial and brought prices out of reach for many. The shortage of meat, medicine and even gasoline in some areas is becoming widespread; the evidence, say conservatives hard, that the president's relationship Hbadan Rouhani with the West, this failed.

"Every day, a hundred people are waiting, but in general, we have enough for 50 or 60 people.", says butcher Amir Hossein Siapoush, hoping to cut the lamb" It's like that every day ".

The cost of red meats and poultry has increased by more than 90% over the previous year. US sanctions do not apply to humanitarian supplies such as food, but its reimposition of last year froze banking channels and alarmed foreign companies who even wanted to do business with Iran. . The rial fell freely and only partly recovered. Imports, when Iran can pay them, are much more expensive.

The ministers they give priority to foods and medicines, and last week, Parliament approved US $ 14 billion of Iran's increasingly scarce resources to support domestic producers and fund "electronic coupons" for the poor who can be traded for essential commodities. Importers already had access to cheaper foreign exchange to guarantee a flow of goods, but this policy is attributed to higher prices, and companies do not transfer savings to consumers despite the threat of prosecution.

The regime banned livestock exports last August to avoid shortages in the country when the sanctions came into effect, but farmers, on the other hand, smuggled animals abroad to obtain foreign currency. .

Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Principal Non-Resident Member of Brookings Institution, says that the scheme partly shares responsibility for the difficulties faced by Iran and described its policy of providing subsidized dollars to importers as erroneous.

Instead, the authorities should push monthly cash transfers to the poorest Iranians and let them decide how to spend that money, he said. "They are trying to keep the consumption of the poor at a level that is not realistic, given the environment in which Iran is currently located".

Climbing attacks

For Iranians who remember the deprivations of the 1980s, when their country was plunged into a war with Iraq, or coordinated international sanctions that isolated their economy before the 2015 nuclear deal, Rationing is not new. Things are still not as bad as in recent years.

The Islamic Republic shows little sign of a collapse, but a series of protests spreading in provincial towns even before sanctions are restored shows how fast the wind can change. What started as anger against the government's management of the economy quickly became a sign of frustration with the political establishment.

The economic crisis means that Rouhani is under pressure from the United States and regime extremists, who claim that Iran is being punished for its concessions, on the other.

With the US promise to restrict restrictions on Iranian oil sales and expiry in May of the import exemptions of several oil buyers of the country, life is becoming more and more difficult.

This is a dark decor for the Persian New Year celebration, or Nowruz, which is usually characterized by parties, sweets and gifts.

By Golnar Motevalli / Bloomberg