About eight million people in Iran face extreme poverty and malnutrition, while up to 50 million more struggle to afford basic goods and meet nutritional needs, the parliament’s social affairs committee chairman said.
“About 8m people have fallen into absolute poverty and malnutrition, while up to 50m others are caught in a vicious cycle of trying to secure basic goods and meet required calorie and nutrition standards,” Ali Babai Karamani said.
He said a four-person household needs a monthly income of at least one billion rials (about $376 at a rate of 2,662,000 rials per dollar) to maintain a ‘normal life’.
“People’s economic conditions are not good. We are in a situation where people have to work one or several jobs,” he added.
More than 78,500 people have died in road accidents in Iran over four years, yet the government is seeking to delay new vehicle safety standards despite repeated warnings about the quality of domestically manufactured cars.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile,told Reuters in a brief phone interview yesterday that the US is ready to resume military strikes if necessary.
Trump, who met Qatar’s prime minister earlier in the day, said ‘Qatar would rather see a peaceful solution’ but ‘we’re ready to go anytime we want’ with strikes.
He, however, said later that military action might not be necessary and that the end to conflict might be near.
The Trump administration said it is taking steps to expedite the use of counter-drone systems to address growing threats.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister and his Omani counterpart stressed in a phone call the need to press ahead with diplomatic efforts to contain the regional crisis and safeguard maritime security and sea lanes, Saudi state media reported.
Separately, the coalition fighting for Yemen said a factory used by the Houthi terror organisation to make ballistic missile components had been destroyed.