Rouhani: Iran Grappling with economic war not only solely sanctions

The president made the remarks in an address to a cabinet session in reaction to some critics of the government who say that sanctions against Iran are not something new, arguing that Iran has been under sanctions even during the tenures of the former administrations, IRNA reported.

Rouhani drew a line between the former sanctions and the current “economic war,” saying, “Over the past several years, we were under sanctions, not an economic war.”

He thanked the Iranian Parliament for giving a vote of confidence to the minister of industry, mine and trade.

The president said he had issued an order in which he had mentioned the four main policies to be pursued by the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.

The first issue is the surge in production, Rouhani said.

“In the domestic manufacturing sector, our performance needs to be better than the previous years. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent problems, the statistics pertaining to the first four or five months of the current Iranian year (which started on March 20) shows that we are witnessing a greater amount of production in comparison to the same period last year.”

The president said that the second duty of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade is to help boost exports of commodities.

Iran used to acquire most of its foreign currency through exporting oil, condensates and gas over the past years, Rouhani said, noting, however, the situation is not the same as before.

The president said that the third issue to be followed by the ministry is supplying basic and essential goods to the domestic market.

He added that the ministry has to monitor the domestic supply and demand round-the-clock to ensure an ideal balance.

Noting that the ministry’s fourth responsibility is to exercise supervision over the domestic market, Rouhani said it is very important to check the balance in the market and customs operations.

Source: Iran Daily