Country Has Been in Economic War Since 2018

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani said that today, non-oil exports are responsible for providing the currency needed by the country.

Rouhani stated on Wednesday that Iran is facing bigger problems in oil exports, and the problem should be compensated by exporting other goods.

The President said: “The Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade is at the forefront of the fight against sanctions, and it is responsible for supplying basic and essential goods.”

He thanked the parliament for the vote of confidence to the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade and said: “In the field of production, our movement should be better than in previous years. Despite the coronavirus spread, statistics in the first four or five months of the current Iranian year show that we are witnessing a growth in production compared to last year.”

“People should know that despite the hardships and pressure of sanctions, the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors have grown,” he noted.

“In previous years, we were under sanctions, not economic war,” Rouhani said.

“In the past, the government exported at least one million barrels of oil a day at a price of $ 120. In 2013, when oil prices fell, it was $ 104 a barrel. Our banks were not in the situation today and they had better conditions.” the president highlighted.

The president stressed: “In the 11th government, the situation was better and we were removed from the FATF blacklist, and unfortunately, problems arose for us because of the four bills.”

“The provision of basic and essential goods is very important for us, and thank God, in the difficult conditions that coronavirus has created for us, our efforts to provide the health and medical goods needed by the people were right.”

“We must explain the facts to the people as they are. Sanctions have been in place for years, but the economic war has been going on since 2018. Let us not make mistakes and distort the address and date, and instead tell the facts to the people, which of course does not mean that we are scared and retreated in the face of enemy conspiracies.”

“It is true that the government’s view is that we must interact with the world, we will repeat it a thousand more times. We said ‘constructive interaction’, and the Supreme Leader corrected it and said ‘extensive constructive interaction’, so we should have extensive constructive interaction with the world.”

“We should talk about the problems, but also explain to the people what has been done and let the people know the facts of our situation. If someone says that all the problems are on the shoulders of the executive management and the government, it is wrong. We all have a heavy burden today. This heavy burden must be borne by the three branches, the armed forces and our dear people until we reach our destination.”

He also urged Iranians abroad to invest in the country and to develop.

Rouhani has pointed to the first debate of U.S. Presidential candidates, noting that ‘Americans are enmeshed in a very tough situation’.

Speaking in a Wednesday’s cabinet session, Rouhani pointed to the history of US measures against Iran, saying, “Americans are seeking to devise new plots every day.”

“Americans have been enmeshed in a very tough situation. If you have listened to last night’s debate or have followed up the issue on media, you have seen what a tough situation they have.”

“On the one hand, they had the worst management of the coronavirus and on the other, unemployment has increased. On the one hand, domestic unrest had exacerbated and on the other, they have had no achievement in their foreign policy.”

Rouhani noted that the Trump administration’s policies have not only failed against Iran but also against Europe and the Asia Pacific.

“It is normal for a country that has a lot of problems inside to divert these to the outside world.”

Elsewhere, he said that despite the U.S. unilateral sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, Iran is seeing an increase of production in industrial sectors. Rouhani said that the output in steel, auto, and petrochemical industries have grown in the past five months as compared to the same period last year.