Iran’s president regrets food ration problems
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — In a rare expression of regret by an Iranian official, President Hassan Rouhani has said that he is sorry for any troubles with the distribution of a food ration to the poor, following reports that three people have died waiting for the goods in sub-zero weather.
Rouhani told state TV that he “as the president expresses regret if people have faced trouble in receiving the commodity basket”.
It’s unusual for an official in Iran to take responsibility for problems in a governmental plan.
The ration for the poor includes eggs, cooking oil, chicken, rice and cheese. The programme was instituted under Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, originally just for government workers.
Rouhani’s administration decided to extend it from 3 million people to 17 million, out of a total population of 76 million. The plan is largely intended to counteract inflation, fed by the sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme.
Abolhasan Firoozabadi, the deputy labour minister who handles the plan, told the official IRNA news agency that more than 11 million baskets of goods have been distributed so far. But the lines to receive the goods are very long.
Rouhani’s opponents have leaped on the failures of the plan, with the hard-line Javan daily declaring it a “national humiliation”.