Leader Underlines Failure of Enemy’s Economic War against Iran

“The goal of the enemies in this war has been the collapse of the Iranian economy; that was their intention. Now, the collapse of the economy was, of course, a prelude in order to set the people against the Islamic Republic by destroying the Iranian economy and to carry out their malicious political intentions in this way,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with a group of the country’s manufacturers and officials in the economic and industry sector on Sunday morning in Imam Khomeini Hussainiyyah.

Referring to his advice to Iranian officials about not tying the country’s economy to the results of the Vienna talks, he added, “I always repeat that you should not condition the country’s economy and economic activities. Do not pause over something that we do not have. We should use our efforts to meet our needs. And thank God we have very good capacities in this regard.”

The Supreme Leader lauded the Iranian manufacturers, entrepreneurs and workers as officers of the battle against the enemies’ economic war, and said that their work has greatly contributed to Iran’s resistance against the enemy.

“The stronghold of the country’s production and economy, thank God, is alive and well. You were the division that stood up to the enemy,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding that the manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and workers were all involved in the victory against the enemy’s economic pressure.

In a relevant development on Tuesday, Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi underlined that if Washington removes the oppressive sanctions against Tehran, the ground will be paved for an agreement.

“If the parties are ready to lift the cruel sanctions against the Iranian people, there is room for agreement,” Rayeesi said in a live TV interview.

He reiterated that the removal of the sanctions could lead to the nuclear deal’s revival.

“If the other party removes the sanctions, there will be a possibility to revive the pact.”

The Iranian president, however, asserted that not everything relied on the negotiations. “We will pursue the negotiations, but it is not like the negotiations solve everything.”

Besides trying to have the sanctions removed, the government is also trying to “neutralize the sanctions,” he said, adding that proper economic relations with the neighbors constitute one way of negating the bans.

Iran and the other parties to a 2015 agreement are negotiating in Vienna, Austria, with the aim of getting the United States to remove the sanctions and return to compliance with the deal.

The Islamic Republic, however, is not directly negotiating with the United States since Washington unilaterally left the accord in 2018 and returned the sanctions that the deal had lifted. 

Also, the president said his administration was determined to enhance Iran’s economic and commercial relations with foreign countries, which he said were not as advanced as its political ties.

“We should establish some [form of] balance in the country’s foreign relations,” Rayeesi noted.

For instance, the president said, the country could unlock a massive economic and trade capacity in relations with its 15-strong neighbors.

He said his recent trip to Tajikistan was followed by a triple increase in the volume of the bilateral business relations.

Rayeesi said his trips to Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan also led to positive developments in the Islamic Republic’s economic relations with the ex-Soviet republics.

By the same token, the roughly-$3-billion volume of economic relations with Russia could be enhanced to as much as $10 billion, he said.

Regarding his recent trip to Russia, President Rayeesi said the meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow featured discussions over bilateral and regional issues “with the countries’ [respective] national interests as the centerpiece”.

The trip, Rayeesi said, should result in expansion of the bilateral relations in such fields as energy, agriculture, and industry.

“Exports of [Iranian] agricultural products and imports of strategic commodities from Russia, given the possibility of eliminating [trade] tariffs, were among the issues that were discussed,” he added.

Rayeesi said the visit “was accompanied by smiles, but smiles alone do not do anything in favor of the people. Interaction with the world and trips [like this] should result in development of [the concerned parties’] fields of energy, industry, and the peoples’ lives.”

The Iranian president noted that the two sides discussed “the need for breaking the US dollar’s dominance on the countries’ monetary and financial interactions.

“I and Mr. Putin agreed that a lot of commercial transactions between the two sides could be done using [each side’s] national currency,” Rayeesi said.

After arrival from Russia visit earlier this month, President Rayeesi said that development of relations between Tehran and Moscow will lead to more security and prosperity for both nations and the entire region.

“Undoubtedly, the development of relations with Russia will contribute to the security and prosperity of the two nations. Certainly, such security-building cooperation will be for the sake of the region,” Rayeesi said.

He said that during his Russia trip, which began on Wednesday, the two sides discussed steps to challenge the dominance of the US dollar and continue trade in their national currencies.

“Our oil minister had good agreements with Russian energy officials, the effects of which will emerge later,” he said, adding that good agreements were also reached on removing obstacles to boosting trade relations.

However, the level of trade relations is “not acceptable”, the president stated.

Officials have said the two sides seek to increase the current record $3 billion bilateral trade.

“We decided to increase the level of trade between the two countries to $10 billion in the first stage,” President Rayeesi said. 

“In the field of agriculture, there were also good discussions that would lead to real exchanges of agricultural products,” he said.

In the field of transportation, the two sides decided to advance the North-South corridor which will facilitate transportation and greatly reduce transportation time, the president added.