In an address to people in the northern city of Lahijan on Wednesday, Rouhani highlighted the delicate situation that Iran is now facing, saying the great Iranian nation has gained major victories in the “great historical test” over the past year.

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

Iran is in a “psychological and economic war” situation, the president said, adding that surrendering to the enemy in the current stage would wipe off all democratic achievements of the past decades.

The U.S. wants to force Iran to return to 40 years ago, Rouhani deplored, saying, “But we say that our path is (one of) independence and democracy. (These are not things one) can compromise on.”

Rouhani said the adversaries were seeking to defeat the Iranian nation in the current Iranian year –which ends in two weeks-, but the great nation resisted pressures in all difficult stages.

“The enemy (the U.S.) did not have any success in its plots against Iran at the Warsaw conference,” the president said, stressing that Iranians have emerged victorious despite all plots, acts of sabotage and sanctions by the adversaries.

Stating that the enemies make the problems, but they will definitely not achieve their goals, president said, “during the economic war, the country needs a single commander; I suggested to the Leader to be the commander, but he said it is the president who has to be the commander of this war.”

Elsewhere, he went on to say, “we promised that we would work towards self-sufficiency in energy consumption and today, we are fully self-sufficient in this sector.”

Referring to the government’s promise to people to connect four major provinces to the nationwide railway system, he said, “Hamedan, Kermanshah, Urmia, and today, Rasht, are connected to the system.”

“Bandar-e Anzali and Caspian Sea must be connected to the Persian Gulf through railways as soon as possible,” continued Rouhani.

He also stressed the importance of the environment and protecting the wetlands of Gilan Province.

He later inaugurated the Qazvin-Rasht railway, stretched along the Caspian Sea in northern Iran. It connects to the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).

The construction of the Rasht-Qazvin railway project started in 2006, and the 164-km long stretch will further be connected to Anzali and Astara ports.

The route will connect Iran with Russia’s Baltic ports and give Russia rail connectivity to both the Persian Gulf and the Indian rail network.

The project will reduce a significant share of cargo transportation costs between Asia and Europe.

Concurrent with the inauguration of the Qazvin-Rasht railway, the construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad and another line linking Rasht to Caspian Port then to the port city of Anzali in Gilan province will commence.

The Rasht-Caspian route will be completed in a year, and the stretch will be extended to Anzali Port in two years.

Once the project is complete, the Caspian Port will become the largest hub in northern Iran and make a major contribution to national and local economic development.

Rasht-Astara project is also slated to go on stream within 4 years.

All the mentioned projects are aimed to contribute to achieving INSTC’s envisaged plans.

INSTC is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.