Velayati says will boost economy through production, foreign ties

Iranian presidential candidate Ali Akbar Velayati has pledged to solve Iran’s economic problems by adopting production-oriented policies and rebuilding Tehran’s ties with the international community.

“In the macroeconomic arena, we should do two things: firstly, reconstruction of the country’s economy around the pivot of production and support for producers; and secondly, rebuilding of foreign relations. Our relations with other countries need to be rebuilt,” said Velayati in his campaign speech in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas.

The principlist candidate pointed to his plans to form a “Complementary Administration” if elected president, adding, “In that ‘Complementary Administration’, we will fight against financial corruption, bureaucratic corruption, and other kinds of corruption.”

“Those who will be part of our administration should be pious and faithful to religion, so that we would not witness corruption anymore,” he said.

Velayati pointed to the high unemployment rate among the Iranian youth and said, “One of our most basic programs is to create jobs.”

“The experienced people [in the future administration] should transfer their expertise to the youth. Moreover, these people must be experts, favor expertise, and support the experts,” he added.

Velayati underscored his resolve to take advantage of moderate figures in his future administration, noting, “They should be centrists and not extremists. They should not go to the extremes. Islam is the religion of moderation and balance. Extremism will be fought against.”

Velayati is facing five rivals – President of the Expediency Council’s Center for Strategic Research Hassan Rohani, Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, and former Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Gharazi – in Iran’s 11th presidential election.

Former Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and former First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref withdrew their candidacy bids earlier this week.

The president of Iran is elected for a four-year term in a national election. Nearly 50.5 million Iranians are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential poll which is to be held on Friday.