Iran’s leader blames government policy for weak economy

Tehran, Iran, March 6
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed the country’s government for weak economy, saying a current economic challenge is the
result of wrong governmental policies, especially the administration’s foreign policy.

“It was a mistake that some made people regarding the current big economic challenge that now afflicts the country. The mistake was that
they expressed economic weakness. The enemy realized this was the place to exert pressure, and they did just that,” ayatollah Khamenei said, his official website reported March 6.

The Leader’s remarks seem to be a reference to President Hassan Rouhani’s approach to economy, where he said the Iranian economy can be
saved if and only if good relations were established with foreign countries, following which foreign investment would flow into Iran.

“If you want to discourage the enemy from attacking, you should avoid expressing weakness,” ayatollah Khamenei stressed.

Right from his presidential campaign, Rouhani was a critic of the economic policies of his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, much liked by the Supreme Leader.

Rouhani would say that a weak economy and inflation rate of over 40 percent were the result of mismanagement and political seclusion during
the Ahmadinejad administration.

Building on that, Rouhani started negotiating a deal with world powers for economic gain, which came out as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 to remove economic sanctions on Iran, in hope of better economic ties with the world.

However, there has been little interest by major foreign banks to reestablish ties with Iran. The banks fear that they may suffer heavy punishment by the US government for having relations with Iran.