The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Irans most powerful economic, social and political institution, has moved aggressively after the contested 2009 presidential election to tighten its grip on society. The Guards where initially meant as an elite military force. But its broad mandate, to protect the revolution, has allowed it to reach far beyond its military capacity. Since the post-election protests, senior Guards officials have been moved into many important government positions. The Guards have taken over a majority share in the nations telecommunications monopoly. This takeover has amplified concerns in Iran over what some call the rise of pseudogovernment, prompting members of Parliament to begin an investigation into the deal. A private firm was excluded from the bidding one day before shares went on sale, and a company affiliated with the elite force won the bidding.
In my opinion the governments of any country should try to interfere as little as possible in its economy, because we believe in the principles of a competitive market situation. Of course for some markets, as public transport, it is vital that the government is involved. However if we examine the electricity market, lets say of Belgium, it becomes clear that because of the monopoly the prices rise, which is negative for the consumers. And Belgium is a developed country. The situation much worse in Iran, I believe. Its an unstable country where a lot of the economy is in the hands of the government. This makes it hard for civilians to become self-employed, or to get promoted or even just get a long term job. Their income is obviously irregular, doubtful and questionable. If they would earn more and with regularity, they can provide an education for their children, so they get better jobs and the chicken-and-egg situation turns to the positive. This way eventually the living standard will improve. Which can only be positive for the development of the country.
According to me it was wrong to prevent the private firm of bidding on a majority share in the nations telecommunications monopoly.Not just for Iran, but for any country. All interested persons should be given the opportunity to bid on their object of interest. If the Guards where so eager to own the majority share, they could have outbid the private firm.
This matter shows that Iran is not willing to improve, or at least some institution arent. Its government wants to stay in control of the economy. Its pity the Guards reacted this way, otherwise they could have send a positive signal to the outer world, to show improvement. Now they haven only confirmed what we already knew.
