The Iranian Regime is Forcing Farmers to Slaughter their Livestock

“We cannot feed our livestock at all,” a member of the farmer’s union in Iran told Majalla. Videos circulating on social media show Iranian farmers taking their dairy cows to the slaughterhouse one after another. Due to the high cost of animal feeds, farmers are closing-down their business. “If the situation doesn’t change in the next three months, all the livestock farms will go bankrupt,” he added.
 
Animal feeds, including barley, corn, and soybeans are scarce and expensive, making it very difficult for ranchers to carry on. So, why do has situation has become impossible for Iranian farmers?
 
There are many problems facing farmers and the industry as a whole in Iran, for example, there are animal feed and veterinary drugs that farmers cannot afford, and the price of meat and milk is incapable of coping with the devaluation of the Iranian currency which has greatly diminished farmers’ profits. But the most significant problems are the government policies that protect and favor the interests of the Iranian Revolutionary Corps Guards (IRCG) over anything else.
 
Rouhani’s government along with IRCG and the Shahid Foundation destroyed the livestock farming industry. Today most of the country's imports and exports are in the hands of the IRGC and Khamenei-affiliated foundations. Why? Because this a high source of income and one of the ways they can get their hands-on foreign exchange to finance government spending, and fund the military follies of the IRCG around the world. 
 
Dr. Shayan Naderi, a researcher in the field of food security and agriculture, said on October 25, 2020 that in recent months, 4.5 million tons of soybeans were imported into the country, which was supposed to reach farmers and poultry farmers with 4,200 Tomans.  But 3 million tons of it ended up to the black market.
 
Pooya Stone explained in a recent article that the “amount of imports has destroyed domestic products and caused the price of domestic products to fall. After the prices of domestic products fall compared to foreign products, mafia bands, which are mainly affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), purchase the agricultural products produced by the farmers at a very low price and less than the production price from farmers. They buy it and export it to other countries at several times the price, pocketing a lot of money from it”.
 
The Iranian farmer told Majalla that “IRCG front companies import livestock feed subsidized by the state with every dollar worth only 4,200 Tomans and then sell it in the open market to farmers eight times higher”.
 
“It is clear in that regard, that an unprecedented corruption operation is carried out by the IRGC and the Shahid Foundation, all of which are under the influence of the supreme leader Khamenei,” he added.
 
The farmer explained that the Kowsar Economic Organization, which is affiliated with the Shahid Foundation and was included in the US sanctions list in March 2020, has around 40 companies that trade with a variety of products from livestock and agriculture to electronics and healthcare industries. This economic organization imports about 30% of Iran's soybeans and agricultural fodder.
 
“Another blow to farmers is the looting of their water by government agencies”, noted Pooya Stone, especially the Revolutionary Guards. “One of the major projects of the regime to plunder Iran’s agriculture is the construction of several dams by the Revolutionary Guards and diverting river water to the IRGC’s profitable projects.”
 
Many other aspects of the Iranian economy are collapsing dramatically which as a result has resulted in 80 percent of Iranians living under poverty. This is mainly due to the overinflated role Iran wants to play in the region by waging different wars in Syria or Yemen and by funding militias and operations around the world. The US sanctions have also had an impact on the country. Corruption has become
endemic and the Iranian regime will never be able to fix the country even if the US sanctions are lifted. The system is irredeemable and the only change that can improve the lives of the Iranian people is that of the regime.