In a recent article by New York Times it was stated “rents are soaring, inflation hovers around 17 percent, and 10 million Iranians live below the poverty line.” The Iranians have even had crackdowns on some of their social freedoms. In Iran, their biggest problem is their Nuclear Program because it has caused many economic hardships, political repression and international isolation to the Iranians. However, the problems that the Nuclear Program is producing secures the rule of the Leaders of Iran. Saeed Leylaz, an economist and former government official of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said, “The leader is concerned that any effort to make the country more manageable will lead to reform and will undermine his authority.” Instead of Ali Khamenei helping the Iranians with the promises he made about lowering prices, he is more worried about his power/rule over them. Here are some people talking about their sad situations:
“No one will help them,” shouted Valioalah Ghiyasi, 60, as he walked down the street, his hands deep in the pockets of his sport coat. He pulled a pay stub from his pocket, showing his government salary, the equivalent of $131 a month.
“It was a better situation before,” he said. “My wife has cancer and I can’t afford the medicine. I haven’t been able to pay my rent in five months. My rent is $250 a month. I don’t know what to do. I am begging.”
“My income does not match my cost of living,” said Hassan Khalili, 37, who rents a small apartment in the village of Vadan, a meandering hillside community of about 9,000 people an hour outside of Tehran. “I thought it was going to get better under Ahmadinejad, but it didn’t.”
My analysis of this article was the Iranians leader isn’t worried about the well being of the country and its people, but of his own power and authority over them. This article really makes me realize how thankful I should be that we are a free country to a certain degree, and that we are better off than other countries. I’m not saying that the U.S doesn’t have people that live in poverty, but not 10 million Iranians that live below the poverty line. I think the statement that hit me the most was “It was a better situation before,” he said. “My wife has cancer and I can’t afford the medicine. I haven’t been able to pay my rent in five months. My rent is $250 a month. I don’t know what to do. I am begging.” The reason this hit me the hardest is because my step dad just died June 3 of this year, and I know how much you want that love one to get better. We had hope because we could afford the medication, but this gentleman doesn’t have any hope for his wife’s life. Poverty is such a big issue around the world that each time I find an article my heart just goes out to those people and I wish that I knew what to do to make it better. I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have any hope for much of anything in my life and didn’t really have a reason to live. Articles like this make you realize how good we have it, and it makes me realize why we have so many immigrants; if I lived like that I would want a better life too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html
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