Iraqi exports responsible for increased tomato prices: Iranian official

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi people are the cause of the rising prices of tomatoes in Iran, an Iranian official said on Saturday as the country continues to suffer from soaring inflation and having its currency almost halved in value against the dollar.

"The price increase is due to Iraqis [traveling to Iran and] buying all the tomatoes," Iranian news outlet ILNA quoted Akbar Bagheri, the executive secretary of the Agricultural and Natural Resources Guild of Qazvin province, as saying.

On Wednesday, Iran's rial hit yet another low, at 190,000 to a dollar, with the US poised to go forth with the second phase of sanctions intended to affect the Gulf Country's oil exports.

The first set of sanctions, which targeted metal and automobile exports were implemented in early August – when the rial was floating at around 100,000 to a dollar. This came three months after the US left the international nuclear accord that demanded Iran limit its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of previously instituted economic sanctions.

"Some Iraqis who come [to Iran] are from Erbil [capital of the Kurdistan Region]," Bagheri added, explaining that the businessmen in question have established connections and, by hiring local fixers, visit the markets and buy up goods to then export to the neighboring country.

Citing an example which he asserted was damaging their economy, he continued, "Qazvin province is the second largest producer of hazelnuts in the country," and through local sources "we learned that a number of buyers (three people) came [to the area] and, when dealing with the village council and major producers, secured a great price for the product."

He claimed the three traders pretended to be competitors and drove the hazelnut prices down.

The official did not explain how the alleged incident translates to the national rise in prices of goods, such as tomatoes.

According to local reports, commodities such as chicken, potatoes, and tomatoes have increasingly become expensive, with prices almost close to doubling over the past months.

Concurrent with the reports, the Chairman of the Poultry and Fish Guild, Mahdi Yosef, laid the blame with suppliers allegedly hoarding their goods to manipulate prices.

When speaking with Iran's semi-official news agency, Tasnim, an agricultural sector official blamed both the general strike of truck drivers in the country and the export of poultry to Iraq as the primary cause of the rising market prices for chicken.

Bagheri, in turn, to combat the surging price of tomatoes in Iran, believed that the immediate cessation of the vegetable's exports would return market prices to earlier levels. 

“If the trend of exports continues, then price increases and low supplies of other products such as potatoes, onions... will arrive at [Iran's] doorsteps sooner or later,” he concluded.

The economic downturn has significantly affected the livelihoods of Iranians who are engaged in recurring protests criticizing the quality of services, a weakened economy, and the leaders in Tehran.

Editing by Nadia Riva