Robust production can fight off sanctions, other economic viruses: Leader

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in Tehran on Wednesday during a video call with representatives of several manufacturing conglomerates on the occasion of the national Labor Week.

The Leader felicitated the Iranian workforce on the occasion during the call that was made as a means of overseeing the implementation of the slogan “Jump in Production” that Ayatollah Khamenei has assigned to this solar calendar year.

The Leader drew an analogy between a country’s economic apparatus and the human body, noting how both require a healthy defense mechanism to repel incoming viruses.

“This very coronavirus entered people’s bodies, but many did not fall ill. How did that happen?” Ayatollah Khamenei explained that a strong immune system was what enabled a successful fight against viruses.

“Should we want to liken the economy to human body, the defense system that provides the economy with security would be production,” the Leader pointed out. “In other words, the element that can neutralize invasive viruses and microbes targeting the economy and keep it healthy is production,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated.

The Leader categorized  the invasive economic factors into “natural viruses” and “manufactured viruses such as sanctions and [the manipulation of] the oil price.”

“However, if we have good production [levels], we can resist these viruses,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader called for the improvement of labor relations countrywide as a means of securing the desired production levels.

Ayatollah Khamenei called for “genuine cooperation” between employees and their employers.

The employees, the Leader said, should act more responsibly and rigorously, while the employers need to assign a bigger share of revenues to the workforce.

Ayatollah Khamenei recalled that labor relations have been underlined in the “Resistive Economy” planning that the Leader has previously pioneered in the face of enemy maneuvers.