Ahmadinejad explains achievements

Iran’s outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has elaborated on his administration’s achievements during his two terms in office.

According to Press TV, President Ahmadinejad said during a televised interview Wednesday night that, amid a global economic depression and massive unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran during his eight years in office, “the production rate in our country experienced its highest growth in history during this period.”
He said “Our country’s economy has reached the 17th place in world rankings from the previous 22nd place.”
According to the president, since he took office, the rate of steel production in Iran jumped from 9.7 million tons to 24 million tons; cement production surged from 33 million to over 80 million tons; and petrochemical production climbed from 18.2 million to more than 58 million tons.
Ahmadinejad also said that industrial investment in the country between 1978 and 2004 was 210,000 billion rials, but since 2005, when he took office, the figure has risen to reach 1,150,000 billion rials.
During his term in office, President Ahmadinejad went on to explain, Iran made achievements in space and nano-technology. He underlined that the country made major progress and achieved landmark successes in the fields of sports, science, culture and art.
He noted that he intends to further elaborate on other issues regarding his administration’s performance, including Iran’s approach in the international arena in a series of other reports that he would submit to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and other officials before his term officially ends next month. The president said he would also inform the nation of those achievements.
Elsewhere in his remarks, President Ahmadinejad emphasized that the Western sanctions on Iran “proved fruitless and they failed and this is a success for the Iranian nation.”
He further emphasized that his administration had “the highest level of respect for freedom,” adding, “No one can be found having the slightest compunction about criticizing this administration and there is no one who has been punished or prosecuted for criticizing the government.”