Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.18 / Trend F.Mehdi/
Iran's economic growth rate hit 0.36 percent in 2012, ranking the country 164th in the world, the Mehr News Agency reported, citing the parliament's research center.
Iran has been placed 23rd among regional countries in this respect.
Iraq had the highest economic growth rate of 11.14 percent, followed by Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kuwait.
Iranian MP Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moqaddam has rejected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim about the country's 5.2 percent economic growth rate.
"There are signs, such as rising unemployment rate and closing down of factories, which show the claimed figure is incorrect," he said.
The rate which has been announced by the president is not consistent with economic statistics, he noted.
However, IMF figures released in October forecast an economic contraction in Iran of 0.9 percent in 2012, and mild growth of 0.8 percent in 2013.
Meanwhile, the head of Iran's Statistics Center Adel Azar has said that Iran's economic growth rate in the Iranian year of 1390 (ended March 19, 2012) stood at 4.67 percent.
The official noted that the average income of Iranian families also increased during the same period as a result of the subsidy reform plan implemented by the government.
Iran's Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari has said that sanctions against the Islamic Republic aim to paralyze the country's economy.
"The aim of [anti-Iran] sanctions is to paralyze our economy and to put people under pressure and in distress," Ghazanfari said.
The ultimate target of these sanctions is the entire economy, he stressed, adding that enemies of the Islamic Republic seek to damage Iran's economy as well as the country's economic growth.