Alireza Sadeghat: Bread Price Surge Exposes the Bankruptcy of Iran’s Economic Model

Alireza Sadeghat, an Iranian opposition figure and economic analyst, said the sharp increase in bread prices is far more than an adjustment in subsidies or production costs. It reflects the collapse of an economic model that can no longer guarantee access to the most basic staple food for millions of Iranian families.

Sadeghat explained that bread has historically represented the last line of protection for low-income households against inflation. As families were forced to give up meat, dairy products, fruit, and even rice, bread remained the cheapest source of daily nutrition. The fact that this final safety net is now becoming unaffordable demonstrates the severity of Iran’s economic crisis.

He argued that government claims blaming higher energy costs and bakery expenses ignore the fundamental issue. A country possessing some of the world's largest oil and gas reserves should not reach a point where providing affordable bread becomes impossible. According to Sadeghat, the real causes lie in decades of economic mismanagement, institutional corruption, military domination of key sectors, and the diversion of national resources toward nuclear projects, missile programs, and regional proxy groups instead of public welfare and productive investment.

He noted that official economic indicators themselves confirm the depth of the crisis. Bread and grain prices have reached record levels while real wages continue to lose purchasing power, leaving workers, retirees, and unemployed citizens increasingly unable to secure even their most basic necessities. If this trend continues, he warned, poverty, food insecurity, and social inequality will deepen further.

Sadeghat stressed that the bread crisis has become both an economic and a political issue. When governments fail to provide the minimum conditions for daily life, public confidence inevitably erodes. Rising living costs are therefore transforming economic frustration into broader political discontent, as reflected in growing labor and retirees' protests demanding that national wealth be invested in the Iranian people rather than external military ambitions.

He concluded that Iran does not suffer from a shortage of resources but from the way those resources are controlled and allocated. Lasting economic recovery, he said, requires democratic governance that redirects national wealth toward development, employment, and social welfare, while respecting both the rights of the Iranian people and the sovereignty of neighboring countries instead of financing repression and regional intervention.