Iran President: Economic Growth Will Prevail Despite US Lawlessness

EghtesadOnline: President Hassan Rouhani said Monday the US will indeed regret its decision to abandon the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions as Iran will work to keep foreign investment flowing into the country.

News ID: ۷۴۶۱۹۷

06 November 2018

Rouhani, who was meeting with his new Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand and his deputies, said  nobody should think that the conditions visiting the country over the past several months will last.

"This trend will come to an end through our strong will, determination, effort and unity," Rouhani said, his official website reported. "We will reduce inflation and embark on the path of economic growth… These are among the tasks of the Economy Ministry."

The parliament approved a government economic reshuffle last month and Dejpasand, widely seen as a technocrat, received a vote of confidence by a wide margin as the new man in charge of the economy and finance portfolio, Financial Tribune reported.

On Monday, the US reimposed all sanctions against Iran that had been lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear agreement, with few exemptions. Trump said Sunday they are "the strongest sanctions that our country has ever issued."

After primarily targeting Iran's auto and aviation industries with penalties in August, the November 5 sanctions hit Iran's oil and gas sector, its shipping industry and banks.

Trump has claimed that he hopes the chokehold will force Iran's government to renegotiate its 2015 nuclear deal, which relieved Iran of international sanctions in exchange for halting uranium enrichment.

Bad Deal

Despite the US State Department's repeated certifications that Iran was abiding by its end of the deal, the Trump administration withdrew from the accord in May 2015. Trump described it as a "horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made."

The move spurred an exodus of international companies, including European giants Total and Airbus, from Iran.

Rouhani said the country "will proudly break the sanctions" imposed by the US.

"I announce that we will proudly defeat your illegal, unjust sanctions because it's against international regulations," Rouhani said.

"We are in a situation of economic war, confronting a bullying power. I don't think that in the history of America, someone entered the White House who is so against the law and international conventions," he added.

While Iran’s inflation rate eased into single digits for the first time in a quarter century in 2016 following the lifting of sanctions against Tehran, double-digit inflation reared its head again in 2018.

"We have entered the double-digit inflation for two [periods] and we should strive to curb that," Rouhani said, adding that the country's economic growth has also hit a snag.

Rouhani called on the government, semi-state entities and the armed forces to divest their enterprises on the stock market, saying privatization was in the interest of the country and the people.

Bank & Capital Market

The president noted the government's main task is to promote the capital market which he said would help  the beleaguered banking and production sectors.

"We are in circumstances that our bourse and Fara Bourse (over-the-counter market) are playing  constructive roles and it is appropriate that our banks  gradually delegate some of their responsibilities to the capital market," the president said.

He added that his number one recommendation to the new economy minister has been to reform the banking sector and that all other issues would follow.

Iran's capital market has been lucrative in the past months with Tehran Stock Exchange's main index growing by 87,077 points (90%) since March to reach 183,367.