Resolving economic woes is crucial towards strengthening Iran: Ayatollah Khamenei

EghtesadOnline: On the anniversary of the January 9th, 1978 uprising, and the anniversary eve of Hazrat Fatima Massouma's (as) demise, thousands of people from Qom met with Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, this morning January 8, 2017.

News ID: ۷۷۳۰۰۶

09 January 2017

In this meeting Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the enemies’ efforts against Iran’s dignity and independence by stating, "The enemy seeks to eliminate factors of national power and attacks branches that symbolize the country’s power.”
According to ISNA, he described the Judicial Branch as independent and courageous, reiterating that everyone should appreciate it: “What defeats the enemy in perusing its plots is that we manage to have a mighty Judicial Branch and a courageous and planning government. We need to strengthen them", his eminence firmly stated.

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the British policy of division adding, “Today the British plot against the region (the Middle East and Iran) is to divide the countries of the region. They say the era of one Iraq, one Syria, one Libya and one Yemen has gone by. They do not mention Iran because they fear the Iranian public opinion, like Muhammad Reza Pahlavi who said after me, 'Iran will be Iranistan', they also seek the same.”

The Leader of the Revolution tapped on Iran’s perception of “enemy” and said, "When we talk about enemy, we don’t simply reiterate slogans." Making an example of recent animosity against Iran practiced by the US, he said: “The good-tempered US Secretary of State writes a letter to the coming government and advises them 'give Iran a hard time' as much as they can and to 'keep in place the sanctions', because by pressuring Iran, they can make Iran 'budge' in their direction. This is what they think. They are planning in advance for the era that comes after the JCPOA to see what restrictions they can impose on Iran. They have this illusion that the JCPOA will last 10-12 years.”

On the issue of economy, Ayatollah Khamenei dubbed economic development and the resolving of people’s economic problems as important factors in having a powerful country, further stating, “By imposing sanctions, the enemy seeks to separate people from the establishment and to afflict the people with problems, like unemployment and recession; and we [should not] just talk about it, leaving people in their problems.”

His Eminence elaborated on pretentious efforts by the US in lifting sanctions against Iran, adding to that note, "When they apparently lift the sanctions, they lift them in a way that would not lead to the resolution of these [economic] problems.” His Eminence then offered this solution, “The antidote we can use against them is to increase our efforts towards maintaining a strong, resistant, and stable economy, which is the Economy of Resistance.”

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution went on to say, “Those who benefit from the dependence and underdevelopment of the Iranian nation are bloody enemies of the Islamic Republic. This animosity might perish one day, however, only provided that the enemy loses hope.”

Ayatollah Khamenei listed Iran’s enemies by stating the following: “Today our enemies are clearly the U.S., the U.K., the international plutocracies, the Zionist and those who follow them--who are not even worth mentioning here.”