The Iranian regime’s parliament has approved a plan to remove four zeros from the national currency, the rial. Officials, such as the Central Bank governor, present this move as a remedy for the “decline of national pride” caused by a worthless currency. However, this is nothing more than a desperate political stunt — a shell game designed to create the illusion of economic stability while the terminal illness of corruption and mismanagement rages on.
This policy is not an economic solution; it is a psychological tranquilizer meant to distract a suffering population. As state-affiliated economists have themselves admitted, it is merely a “show” and a “game with numbers” that will do nothing to address the root causes of Iran’s catastrophic economic collapse.
A sick economy held “hostage to politics”
The real sickness driving Iran’s economy into the ground is not the number of zeros on its banknotes, but the regime’s destructive policies. Mahmoud Jamsaz, a government-affiliated economist, bluntly stated the core problem: “Iran’s economy is a hostage to politics.” For 46 years, every major economic decision has been dictated not by national interest or sound financial principles, but by the political and military calculations required to preserve the clerical regime’s grip on power.
The hyperinflation that has destroyed the savings and livelihoods of millions of Iranians has a clear source: the regime’s “unrestrained printing of banknotes to cover its budget deficit.” This deficit is fueled by the colossal expenses of its domestic repressive apparatus, its network of terrorist proxies, and the enrichment of a corrupt elite. Deleting zeros from the currency does not stop the printing presses. Even the head of the Majlis Economic Committee, Shamseddin Hosseini, admitted that this measure is not a “monetary policy” on its own and cannot control inflation. It is a tacit acknowledgment that the change is cosmetic, not corrective.
Empty coffers and a squandered future
The utter fraudulence of this currency redenomination is exposed by one devastating fact: the new currency, like the old one, has no real backing. The nation’s strategic financial reserves, meant to safeguard its future and provide a buffer against economic shocks, have been plundered.
Jamsaz issued a stark warning that reveals the depth of the regime’s bankruptcy: “The National Development Fund lacks sufficient reserves and the Foreign Exchange Reserve Account is almost canceled.” These funds, which should have protected Iran from sanctions and oil price volatility, are empty. Why? Because, as the expert noted, “national strategic resources have been spent on the costs of the state’s political projects.” The wealth of the Iranian people has been systematically funneled into sustaining the regime’s oppressive rule at home and its malign activities abroad. Changing the numbers on the banknotes cannot refill an empty treasury.
The people see through the ruse
The people of Iran, whose lives have been ruined by the regime’s economic malpractice, are not deceived by this latest maneuver. They have long “understood that the root of the economic crisis lies not in the banknotes, but in the political decision-making mechanism of the regime.” As long as the Central Bank remains a tool of the government and financial transparency is non-existent, inflation will continue to serve as “a hidden tool for transferring wealth from the people to the government.”
This policy will not solve anything. On the contrary, it will only “add a crisis to the existing crises,” creating confusion in markets and imposing new costs on businesses and citizens. The only viable path to economic recovery and prosperity for Iran is not through changing the currency, but through fundamental political change. The answer lies in overthrowing the corrupt clerical dictatorship that holds the nation’s economy — and its future — hostage.
