Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.4
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The head of the Statistical Center of Iran, Adel Azar, has rejected claims of ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about current president Hassan Rouhani's report on his first 100-day in office, IRNA reported on December 4.
All the data announced by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani related to the inflation rate, the economic growth rate, and the jobless rate are corroborated by the statistical center and claims of Mr. Ahmadinejad are not genuine, Azar said.
"These statistics are public, neutral and have scientific basis. They're not related to any groups or the government. The statistical report was provided in accordance with international standards," Azar added.
Rouhani presented a report on the first 100 days of its administration in a live TV interview on November 26.
On Dec.3, Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to Rouhani, to hold a friendly debate.
"I've heard what has been said about Iran's former government, and those are unfair and baseless accusations," Ahmadinejad wrote in his letter to Rouhani.
"For country's sake I kept it silent, however the people, political and economic experts wanted me to speak out. Thus, I am offering to hold a friendly debate to settle the differences," Ahmadinejad's letter said.
Country's previous administration, led by president Ahmadinejad, was heavily criticized for leaving heavy debts behind, as well as wasting large amount of petrodollars.
Ahmadinejad in his letter noted that "considering the current situation in the country, I feel the need to have friendship and unity".
"I thank my former colleagues who did tremendous amount of hard work during the 8 years of the administration, and they helped a lot of people. Hadn't they done that, the country's would've been under irreparable damage," the letter said.
Rouhani's advisor Akbar Torkan expressed his views on Ahmadinejad's initiative regarding the debate, and said that Iranian administration welcomes the idea.
"We welcome the debate, but only if Ahmadinejad speaks the truth," Torkan said, according to Mehr news agency.
"Ahmadinejad and president Rouhani are currently not on the same level to have debates, but we welcome the fact that Ahmadinejad is willing to speak about the issues related to the previous government."