Aref says the government is ready to hand part of its market authority to the trade guilds

Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran's First Vice President, told managers of the Tehran Chamber of Guilds that the government is ready to hand its market powers over to the trade unions and guilds, and that much of the work, including market supervision, should be done with the guilds themselves taking part. The remarks were published on Saturday 1 August 2026.

He said that if the unions recover their proper standing they can play a more effective role in dealing with violations, in regulating the market and even in setting guild taxes, which would reduce the need for broad intervention by supervisory bodies. Aref said the government is ready to form joint working groups on the guilds' problems, including tax matters, and that tax should be levied in proportion to each business's production conditions and income while tax evasion is pursued.

He described the government's strategy over the past two years as securing people's livelihoods, creating relative stability in the market and taming inflation, and said the same approach will continue over the next two years. He also called for firm action against overpricing, hoarding and short weighting, with the guilds alongside the government.