Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Sunday the country’s poor economic situation was not only due to international sanctions, but also to government mismanagement.
“Wrong decisions and shortcomings” were part of the reason for Iran’s “unsatisfactory” economic data, he said about the economic situation during the decade from March 2011 to last year.
Indicators such as “GDP growth, capital formation, inflation, housing and liquidity growth were not satisfactory,” Khamenei added.
“The main cause of these problems is not only sanctions but also wrong decisions and shortcomings,” he told a meeting with economic officials.
Khamenei hailed the producers’ determination against the attack on Tehran’s economy and attempts by its enemies to thwart the sale of oil and gas, cut foreign oil resources, and plan to block its foreign trade exchanges.
“If the authorities had cooperated more with the producers in these 10 years, the damage would have been less, and the successes would have been greater,” he remarked.
Moreover, he criticized the high prices and low quality of some home-made products, especially cars.
He also charged that “despite the government’s support,” the price of some domestically-produced home appliances had doubled.
Iran has witnessed a number of protest rallies in the past few weeks by civil servants, including from the judiciary, against tough economic conditions.
Iran has been negotiating in Vienna - directly with Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, and indirectly with the United States - to revive its tattered 2015 nuclear deal.
The agreement offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. But the US unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump and reimposed stringent economic sanctions that battered its economy and currency.
Regarding companies operating despite the sanctions, Khamenei said: “We have successful examples and businesses that did not wait for the lifting of sanctions.”
He quoted recent remarks by State Secretary spokesperson Ned Price, in which he defended President Joe Biden administration’s insistence to resolve the Iranian nuclear deal crisis through diplomacy and described the maximum pressure campaign as an “abject failure.”
