Iran, Tehran, June 12 / Trend T.Jafarov/
Mohammad-Reza Nematzadeh, the head of the election headquarters of reformist candidate Hassan Rohani, said that Rohani has the chance to win the elections in the first round.
In an interview with Trend in Tehran, Nematzadeh said that considering that another reformist candidate Mohammad-Reza Aref withdrew from the race, and that Rohani is backed by former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the council of reformists, there is a hope that Rohani would win the elections in the first round. But, due to the probability of withdrawing some of the principlist candidates, the situation may change and the elections may continue in the second round.
Economic plans
Nematzadeh said that Rohani will focus on combating high inflation, which emerges as a result of high liquidity. He will also plan to stabilize the foreign exchange rates proportional to the GDP and the inflation rate.
Rohani will reactivate the unused economic capacities. Unnecessary imports should be limited and domestic production should be boosted.
Unemployment should be resolved through attracting investments in the production sector.
He went on to note that the amount of investment compared to the GDP is low. Moreover, paying cash subsidies does not meet the demands of low-income people.
Although each Iranian receives 455,000 rials ($13 based on USD rate in Iran's open market) in a cash subsidy per month, but creating jobs is much more important.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Iran's economy decreased by 1.9 percent in 2012. The value of the country's currency, the rial, also decreased by 40 percent in 2012. According to the Iranian Central Bank, the country's inflation was above 30 percent in the previous year.
Nuclear program
Rohani served as the secretary of the National Security Council and the chief negotiator with the West during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997 and 2005).
Rohani proved that he was capable to negotiate, so that he could block the sanctions which were supposed to be used against Iran and did not allow Iran's case to be handled in the UN Security Council.
During the incumbency of Rohani, three European foreign ministers (Britain, France, and Germany) came to Iran and signed a protocol in 2003 and convinced Europe that Iran will not build nuclear weapons.
Later, European countries promised not to allow the U.S. to approve the sanctions against Iran in the UN through using their veto rights.
Nematzadeh said that Rohani has the experience and the potential to resolve the nuclear issue and lift the sanctions.
Foreign policy and relations with the world
Regarding the foreign policy and the relations with the neighboring countries, he said that Mr. Rohani has explained his policy in a book that we should expand the relations with the world. He has used the phrase "reconciliation with the world" in the book. According to him, both the 20-Year Outlook Plan and the Five-Year Development Plan have emphasized the need for normalizing the relations with other countries.