Speaker of Iran’s parliament Ali Larijani announced that the parliament will not reconsider the bill on government subsidies and the current passed law is completely viable..

According to Mehr News Agency Larijani said the parliament is against a “leap” and in “cases when we are not fully clear of the all the dimensions, it is best not to make sudden moves.”

These comments come after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the subsidies bill altered by the parliament cannot be put into effect and called for a public poll to prove his point.

The economic advisers of the parliament challenged Ahmadinejad’s comments and declared that they are ready to argue the matter in a public debate.

Yesterday, Head of the Economic Commission of the Parliament, Arsalan Fathipour announced that they are in the process of discussing the matter with a number of MPs in order to address the needs of the government. But Ali Larijani’s declaration today that the parliament’s decision is final seems to close the door on further compromises.

Larijani adds that the subsidies bill should be put into effect through a five year plan so that its outcome can be reviewed after the first year. Free Iran:  This is a typical move by the regime; whether in the economic or political arena, they move incrementally.  For instance, the regime didn’t round up all the reformists at once.  It did it in a rolling batch format.  This way, at any given time all the reformist leadership wasn’t in prison but almost all the second tier leadership either experienced the insides of a prison themselves or had someone very close to them do so.  Incremental & gradualism are the key words for this regime.  This is also how they are proceeding in the nuclear front.  Unfortunately, this incremental strategy is a conservative, wise and shrewd strategy for them.

Deputy Head of the Parliament, Mohammadreza Bahonar also told ILNA that by not putting the subsidies bill into effect the government is in “violation” of the law. He also added that the parliament sees no need in reconsidering the bill.

Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader called on the parliament yesterday to cooperate with the government in the matter.

In the past months, the government and the parliament have been at odds over this bill, and the parliament has reduced the government’s estimated income of $40 billion from stopping public subsidies to $20 billion.

Now that the Guardian Council has approved the bill, the government is bound by the parliament’s decision.

Also see:

RFE:  China Imports Less Iranian Oil, Despite Jump In Demand

Customs data released today by Beijing shows China’s imports of Iranian crude oil shrank by nearly 40 percent during January and February compared to the same months a year earlier.   The drop comes despite China’s expanding hunger for foreign oil.

The data shows that Iran has slipped from being China’s third to fourth biggest foreign supplier of crude oil  — overtaken by Russia during the first two months of 2010. China’s crude shipments from its number one supplier — Saudi Arabia — rose 5.4 percent during January and February.

Iran was the only major crude oil supplier to China to show a fall in deliveries. Free Iran:  For its own strategic needs, China is diversifying its oil imports but that won’t mean that the Chinese will be more susceptible to American pressure.  China wants Iran to remain a thorn in the side of America.

The drop comes as Western powers urge Beijing to approve proposed new United Nations Security Council sanctions against Tehran over its disputed nuclear activities.

Rooz:  1388, Year of Militarization of Economy

March 20, 2010 was the last day of the Iranian calendar year 1388. That year began well, with a surplus of some items such as potatoes which was distributed free by the government.  But the distribution was limited to the election season and as the year grew to its end, the distribution ended too.  Interestingly enough, at the end of the year the administration pushed a bill through the Majlis to provide the public with water, electricity, power, gasoline and natural gas at market prices without the traditional subsides.  Meanwhile, the Iranian economy suffered from severe stagnation and unemployment in 1388 as the country’s important and money-making firms were handed over to the Islamic Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).