According to the International Iranian Stone Exhibition, "domestic sanctions" or "self-sanctions" is a term that is common these days and is often heard in the words of many economic activists, including miners.

They believe that in addition to boycotting the mining sector, some officials inside are imposing sanctions on themselves and obstructing mining activists. Weak laws, increased rates of export duties on minerals, a long process of administrative bureaucracy, distribution of rents, etc. are among the things that are known as internal sanctions or self-sanctions.

Domestic sanctions slow down the economy

Asked what is meant by internal sanctions, Ahmad Meshkani, a university professor, said: "Internal sanctions are a term that is becoming more common these days and is often heard in the words of miners." In fact, all issues and problems that slow down the movement and economic process and prevent or slow down individual, group and social economic growth in the country can be considered in the field of domestic sanctions; Examples include misguided laws, hasty decisions, export tariffs, rent-seeking for certain groups, poor law enforcement, regulatory markets, government interference in private sector activity, and more.

In response to the question of what actions as internal sanctions have hindered the development of the mining sector, he clarified: The mining sector, like other sectors, has been damaged due to internal sanctions. Immediate, sudden and unprofessional decisions of the public sector such as preventing the export of raw materials, ordering trade, increasing government mining rights, land fees, setting tariffs and duties on imports of mining machinery, imposing heavy duties on exports, enforcing strict rules of the Natural Resources and Environment Organization Weak enforcement of judicial orders and multi-dollar dollars are among the domestic sanctions that have hit the mining sector.

In response to what you expect from the government as a mining activist to solve the problem of self-imposed sanctions, Meshkani said: "The government should remove all barriers to production and regulate and implement mining laws in a way that creates economic prosperity in the mining sector, especially in the private sector." To make this happen, the government must enforce the law, properly monitor and facilitate the current affairs.

He stressed: the government institution should consider special privileges for the mining sector; Because the function of this sector is job creation, providing the resources needed by downstream industries and exporting minerals, and consequently currency for the country's economy.

Asked what needs to be done for economic development in the mining sector and a leap in production, Meshkani said: "For a leap in production in the mining sector, careful planning is needed in three steps: short-term, medium-term and long-term." For this, the knowledge and ability of specialized and experienced people in the public and private sectors must be used.

Referring to the role of the private sector in increasing economic prosperity, he said: "Creating strong mineral organizations will help the prosperity and leap of production." Meshkani stated: Complicating the economic situation, looking at the economy away from politicization and focusing on economic movement in Iran and abroad And paying attention to mineral capacities and production capacity are among the essentials that should be considered.

He stressed that in order to accelerate the mentioned processes, the existing mining challenges should be reduced and new solutions should be provided by the government.

Internal sanctions cannot be ignored

Baqer Mohammadi, a mining activist, said about the problem of domestic sanctions for economic activists: "Although foreign sanctions have created many problems for economic actors, including mining activists, but domestic sanctions should not be ignored."

"Unfortunately, economic actors and the mining sector have come under pressure from inside and outside and have not been able to grow as they should," he said. In the meantime, domestic problems are expected to be less than those imposed by foreigners, when they are not.

Referring to the existence of bureaucracy as one of the internal problems, he said: "The process of administrative work sometimes delays the mining process by up to a year." Sometimes this process is so long that the producer's life is no longer enough and nothing works.

He stressed that internal managers and relevant departments should be more transparent.

Mohammadi also referred to the existence of some information and financial rents and said: "Unfortunately, among the economic activists in the mining sector, we are witnessing corruption, gangsterism and rents that have given way and have slowed down the mining cycle."

Mohammadi went on to point out the problem of different interpretations of the law: "Unfortunately, the interpretation of the law is different in different provinces." In this way, each person interprets the law by voting and expresses his / her opinion in order to advance the work.

He also pointed to legal problems in giving an example: the VAT law is strictly enforced in the western provinces, but not in the central provinces and Isfahan; Therefore, we expect the Islamic Consultative Assembly to enter and solve the problems of the people in this regard.

Regarding the reason for this problem, Mohammadi pointed to the weakness of the staff management and clarified: "Unfortunately, there is not much supervision over the activities of mining activists in different provinces, and some managers have left things to themselves."

He went on to point out the overnight laws and the problems that the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade creates for mining traders and said: "Traders import goods authorized by law, but the import of goods that, for example, did not have problems until 10 days ago," he said. Suddenly becomes unauthorized; In this way, the businessman is confused and does not know what to do!

Mohammadi, in response to the question of which institution do you consider responsible for solving the problem of self-imposed sanctions, said: "We cannot name a specific institution, because all institutions are related to this issue in some way." But in particular, the Islamic Consultative Assembly can be mentioned as a legislative body. Since one of the duties of the parliament is to oversee the envisaged laws, including in the field of mining, we expect this legislature to be the pioneer of other institutions.

Concluding remarks

Experts believe that many of the problems that have slowed down the economy at home can be attributed to domestic sanctions. In this regard, they point to incorrect laws, hasty decisions, export tariffs, creating rents for certain groups, poor enforcement of laws, regulatory markets, government interference in private sector activities, and so on. In response to the question of how to solve this problem, mining activists state that the government should remove all barriers to production and regulate and implement mining laws in a way that creates economic prosperity in the mining sector, especially in the private sector. They also emphasize the important role of the Islamic Consultative Assembly in regulating economic activities, including mining.