Iran Has Put Critical Situation Behind; Foiled Plots
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani said here yesterday that Iran can absolutely claim today that the conspiracies hatched by the US, global arrogance, the Zionist regime and some regional reactionary elements to inflict serious blows to the Islamic system is over.
Speaking at his 13th press conference on Monday, President Rouhani said all enemies admit the fact that Iran has left behind all critical conditions and semi-crisis situations with intelligence, patience, and resistance.
He also commented on the massive turnout of the Iranian nation in the annual ritual of Arbaeen and said that this year the Iranian nation’s presence in the Arbaeen march was more intense and glorious than any other year.
The President further extended his gratitude to all the agencies and organizations that work in this field, from the Arbaeen headquarters to government forces, the NGOs and all the people who serve in this respect as well as the Iraqi government and the people of Iraq for their hospitality.
The Iranian president further voiced his pleasure to be attending the press conference at the presence of Iranian and foreign journalists, and said, “We went through a very difficult and historic economic, political and security situation.” The administration in the first 55 months since “the beginning of my first administration in June 2013 has taken a course that all regional, and especially economic security political indicators were on the right track”.
President Rouhani added that since January 2017, “we have entered into new conditions, the crisis was first fueled the inside and then the outside, and we have entered 2018 with difficult conditions”. In 2018, the predictions of both foreigners and some domestic economic analysts were that “we were facing a very difficult year and we were going to have a much tougher year”. Even some economic analysts in some of the media were saying and discussing the three-digit inflation issue for Iran, but fortunately, in these 18 months, the great Iranian government and other pillars of the system were able to pass through this storm.
Rouhani went on to say that today “we can say with certainty that conspiracies of the US, global arrogance and Zionism and the reactions states of the region to seriously harm the system are over. They all admit that we have passed through these critical or quasi-critical situations with our intelligence, patience, resistance, and perseverance.”
Since May 2919, “our indicators have been on the right track”, he said. That means our point-to-point inflation has dropped from 52% today to 34% today, “so our point-to-point inflation has declined rapidly over the past few months, and we expect it to continue its downward trend” by the end of this current Iranian year (starting on March 21).
The president said, of course, in 12-month inflation the slower trend has begun. At the same time, 12-month inflation will be followed by point-to-point inflation. Predictions are that the country’s economic growth, which was negative last year, will be positive in the first 6 months of this year, with no final figures yet announced.
President Rouhani said that the employment recorded a very good record this summer, and “we have 843,000 net employments this summer compared to last year, and our unemployment rate has fallen from above 12.3% to 10.5% and that means Iran’s economic success.
Elsewhere the President highlighted that from the political and international point of view, the Islamic Republic of Iran has much stronger conditions. At the UN, it was clear to us that all the great nations of the world acknowledge that Iran in 2019 is stronger than Iran in 2018 and that everybody admired the great Iranian nation.
He added, of course, it was a tough 18 months for our people. Economic conditions were poor and pressures were high, especially those with fixed wages or incomes.
Rouhani emphasized that we felt the problems of the people in the government, but all must accept that it was the great work of the government during this 18-month period that was able to recover the indicators despite the pressure of further economic sanctions.
He also added that the country is ready to restart nuclear talks with the member states of the P5+1 group if the United States removes all sanctions it has re-imposed on Iran after Washington quit a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran last year.
Answering a question about the possibility of talks between Tehran and Washington if the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump leads to his dismissal and a new president takes office at the White House, he said Iran’s problem is not to sit with a US president for talks, but “our main concern is whether our interests are met through negotiations or talks are merely for show.”
“Trump’s personal characteristics have made it very difficult to talk to U.S.,” Iran’s chief executive said, adding that this is not just a problem for Iran, but for the entire world and all world leaders have pointed this out.
“If sanctions are removed based on our demands, we are ready to take part in talks within the framework of P5+1,” he noted.
In response to the U.S. acts, Tehran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments three times in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade from the U.S. sanctions.
Rouhani stated on Monday Tehran would proceed to reduce its commitments to the 2015 nuclear settlement till the European Union fulfils guarantees it made beneath the deal. Iran has steadily scaled again its nuclear commitments since Might after the U.S. pulled out of the deal and has referred to as on European events to the pact to salvage the deal by shielding Iran’s economic system from U.S. penalties.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Iran’s president said the Islamic Republic is bent on solving regional problems through dialog with all countries of the region, including Saudi Arabia.
Answering a question about the recent visit to Iran by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Rouhani said the two sides discussed the existing problems in the region, adding that Khan wanted to know about Iran’s viewpoints before his Tuesday trip to Saudi Arabia.
No country can create insecurity in the region and simply get away with it, Rouhani says.
Rouhani stressed that Iran does not seek tensions with any regional countries.
“We have never wanted to have tense relations with neighbors and even offered a very important initiative at the United Nations, known as the Coalition of HOPE, and this initiative has been presented to eight regional countries,” he said.
Asked about a recent attack on an Iranian tanker in the Red Sea, Rouhani said the attack was undoubtedly carried out by a regime with the help of some regional countries.
“Of course, what happened in the Red Sea (where an Iranian tanker ship was hit by two explosions) and our ship was targeted, caused problems and our investigation [into this issue] will be finalized soon. What is certain is that a regime with the help of some regional countries has been behind this and we are conducting a probe to see what has happened,” Rouhani said.
Regarding Yemen, Rouhani noted that Iran believes that the war in Yemen is important when it comes to solving regional problems and if a ceasefire is reached there, many other problems, including those between Iran and Saudi Arabia, could be solved.
