Tyranny of numbers

The hottest topic in Iran’s impromptu presidential election is economic justice, with inflation a close second, the two topics on which the interests of the poor and the middle class diverge. The tragic death of President Raisi last month has thrown Iran into a contentious election debate in which the performance of his administration is a central issue. Raisi made many promises, most of which had remained unfulfilled at the time of his death. Promises for one million new jobs and one million new homes each year are well below target, as are bringing inflation down and preventing Iran’s currency slide. These failures might have been avoided had he succeeded in his other goal of ending US sanctions.