Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- The Rising Price of Chicken...And Much More (Arseh Sevom)

The Price of Chicken

The price of chicken went up 30% last month alone, while the Financial Times reports that grain is up 55.8%; fruit 66.6%, and vegetables 99.5%.

Economic sanctions against Iran have made life more complex. There is more and more news of pressure on vulnerable classes shared on social media and from sources inside Iran. Aftab News writes:

Although the government has always spoken of the positive effect of the subsidies in reducing the gap between classes and reducing poverty, the reality in present day Iran reveals a different trend. In his latest announcement, the head of the Competition Council stated that urban households with a monthly income of less than 946 thousand tomans (almost 480 USD) fall below the poverty line.”

This announcement is based on data collected two years ago. The cost of living has risen significantly since.

Click to read more ...

Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- At Neda's Grave (Arseh Sevom)

What's the story behind this lion cub? See last entry in the round-up....

---

Neda Remembered

The 20th of June marked the third anniversary of the violent death of Neda Agha Soltan, caught on film.

Neda’s family was never allowed a decent memorial service because of “security concerns,” but her grave has now become a site of pilgrimage for many activists and dissidents in Iran. Last week, despite pressure, Neda’s family and some of her friends and relatives gathered at her grave in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery outside Tehran to remember a girl who, as recounted in this piece from our civil society magazine, was “unlike most of the national heroes of Iranian patriarchal society”. She was a young woman who “became the face of the nation. She was special because she was not special at all. She was the Iranian girl next door; one world apart from the image endorsed by the Islamic Republic.”

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (23 October): A Victory in Qom?

1835 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Safar Mousavi, the head of Foulad Shahr city council in Isfahan Province, has been released on bail after 40 days in prison.

1820 GMT: Subsidy Watch. More warnings for the Government as it may or may not introduce subsidy cuts....

Ali Asghar Yousefinejad, the chair of Parliament's Industry Commission warns that subsidy refunds will not cover rising costs. Ayande News adds substance: new gas bills will be 800,000 Toman (about $800) but the support payments are only 1/10th of this.

1815 GMT: Economic Transparency? Adel Azar, the head of Iran's Statistics Center has declared, that if the government accepts the offer, the Center will publish the data on inflation.

Click to read more ...