Economic Growth Not Tied to Political Negotiations

President Ebrahim Raisi said the Islamic Republic has never linked its economic growth to political negotiations with other countries and will not do so in the future.

“Economic and trade interaction is a sector that is actively being pursued and will not be tied to negotiations,” he said at the inauguration of an exhibition of Iran’s exports capabilities on Sunday, President.ir reported.

He was referring to talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which had offered sanctions relief to Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear activity.

The JCPOA unraveled when the United States pulled out unilaterally in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions that prompted Tehran to react by scaling down its commitments.

Raisi said that political talks are an independent course of action that Iran is taking “with honor and from a position of power.”  

Talks started in early 2021 to work out how both Iran and the US could resume compliance with the JCPOA, but have been stalled since last August over final differences, with both sides blaming the other for the suspension.

“It was the Americans and Western countries who broke their vow and left the negotiating table,” Raisi said.

Tehran has the honor of fulfilling its commitments confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 15 reports, while the US reneged on the agreement and European countries failed to meet their commitments, he added.

“Iran has a sound and logical argument and has never quit the negotiating table.”

Since his inauguration, Raisi has vowed to follow nuclear talks for the removal of sanctions alongside plans to neutralize them.

As a result, despite continued pressure and extensive sanctions, Iranian manufacturers have had considerable achievements today that have astounded foreign observers, according to the president.

Iranian scientists, for instance, have been able to make many areas of knowledge completely domestic, including military and nuclear sciences, removing the need for foreign experts, he said.

The volume of exports, he added, has also surpassed $50 billion which is a 40-year record.

“This shows the government’s strong will to increase exports and boost the volume, variety and quality of production,” he said.

Raisi said the enemies have had to admit that their so-called maximum pressure policy on the Islamic Republic has failed as Iranian scientists quickly make up for shortcomings in each sector that they impose sanctions on.

“One of the indications of the neutralization of sanctions is this very exhibition,” Raisi said, hoping that such events would help expand cooperation between Iranian and foreign business companies, especially from neighboring and regional states.

Equal Attention

The president later underlined his administration’s efforts to give equal attention to all economic and production sectors and avoid focusing on oil and gas alone.

“With this policy, our economic ties with other countries in new sectors can improve fast,” he said.

The first step along this line is the introduction of domestic capabilities and gaining knowledge about other countries capacities, he noted.

Opening trade offices in countries that lack one and holding events such as the current exhibition are among the government’s efforts toward this end, according to Raisi.

He called on manufacturers to avoid the sale of raw material in order to uplift the production of processed goods, while creating jobs and greater value added.

It is also important to take note of the cost price to be able to compete with foreign products, Raisi said, cautioning, however, that quality must never be sacrificed.

He also urged all authorities in ministries and relevant organizations to seriously support business people and producers for exports.

“Real support of production means offering legal support, paying loans and relaxing the regulations,” he said.

Upon arrival, the president visited a number of select stalls.

The 5th exhibition of Iran’s exports capabilities has kicked off in Tehran with the participation of 750 domestic companies in 12 areas of production, including medical equipment, house appliances, and petrochemicals among others.

Representatives from 60 countries have applied to visit the expo and around 1,200 to 2,000 foreign business people and officials are expected to visit.