Amid more news of government corruption and mismanagement, the secretary general of Iran’s Jomhouriat Party has called on President Ebrahim Raisi to step down.
In a speech at the latest congress of the party this week, reformist cleric Rassoul Montajabnia said that "corruption has never been so widespread in any of the previous governments in Iran."
He said Iranians are suffering as they are being tortured by the economic hardships the government of President Raisi has imposed on them.
Montajabnia who was speaking on Friday, further charged that Raisi administration officials cannot achieve anything in the negotiations with the West more than what the Rouhani administration had achieved. Nonetheless, he saw the talks as a positive development.
After restoring diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia with China’s mediation, Iran is reportedly holding talks with the United States in Oman. "Negotiating is better than insisting on one side of the argument at any price," he said.
However, he added: "It is not good that members of the current government have adopted the diplomatic overtures of their predecessors but still call them traitors!"
He was referring to continuing attacks by hardliners against the Rouhani government for being too weak in their dealings with the West.
Meanwhile, Montajabnia criticized the government for the way it handled the restoration of ties with Saudi Arabia and said that the fact that a communist state had to mediate between Iran and another Muslim country was not consistent with Iran's dignity."
Montajabnia then lashed out at the government for ''serious and widespread administrative corruption in a government that came to power with the motto of fighting corruption." Referring to a recent case of financial corruption among state officials, Montajabnia said corruption has never been as widespread in Iran under any previous government."
He also criticized the Raisi administration officials for failing to stand by the promises they had made to the people, and leaving the nation helpless with a lot of financial problems. Referring to a recent case of bribery involving tens of lawmakers and at least one government ministry. He further charged that gangs and mafias have infiltrated various parts of the government and the parliament.
The former Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnaser Hemmati, recently noted in an Instagram post that he had warned Raisi during the election campaigns in 2021 that the promises he was giving could not be met as there were no funds available." Hemmati also accused all other candidates of "promising the redistribution of poverty in Iran rather than creating wealth for the people."
Meanwhile, according to a Khabar Online report, Hemmati further charged that Raisi in his latest interview on state TV has concealed the fact that the inflation rate in Iran in May was over 60 percent. He added that Raisi declined to tell the nation about what happened to the promises he had made in 2021 to improve the country's economic situation. He further charged that the state television helped Raisi to conceal painful facts.
In another development, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi said those like Raisi and his economic aides who promised to bring down the inflation rate to a single-digit figure, even without resolving the nuclear issue, should now be held accountable for the country's current situation.
Abdi charged that following the restoration of ties with Saudi Arabia and reported contacts with the West, the Raisi administration appears to have realized the importance of nuclear negotiations for Iran's economy and foreign policy although it still finds it difficult to acknowledge that.