Hostile Plots to Disintegrate Iranian Society Neutralized

Effective decisions made by the government’s economic coordination headquarters could foil enemy plots to disintegrate the Iranian society, according to President Hassan Rouhani. 
“The enemies’ first purpose in imposing sanctions and economic war was to break up the society and portray the governance as inefficient in dealing with problems and crises,” he said, adding that his economic team acted as “war headquarters”, President.ir reported. 
Iran has been under severe American sanctions since 2018, when the United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal which lifted international restrictions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. 
The so-called “maximum pressure campaign” of former US president Donald Trump was aimed at forcing Iranian leaders to agree to renegotiations over a more comprehensive deal. 
Iran refused to discuss a “done deal” and chose to adopt maximum resistance, and instead, reduced its compliance with the terms of the agreement. It said, however, that all measures would be reversed as soon as it can practically enjoy the economic benefits of the deal once again. 
In such circumstances, when western pressure made it very “difficult and complicated” to manage the country’s economy, the headquarters placed people’s livelihood on top of its agenda to prevent harm to the foundations of their lives, Rouhani said. 
“Food security and economic stability have a key role in ensuring social and mental security,” he said during the last meeting of the economic cooperation headquarters on Tuesday. 
He noted that his administration managed to reduce inflation in four consecutive years and promote economic growth and social security before the imposition of the sanctions, while it could also neutralize hostile plots against the nation after the start of the economic war. 
“Although the reasons behind this war were political and involved foreign relations and diplomacy, the headquarters tried to mitigate the economic effects of these political hostilities by its in-time decisions,” he said. 
Rouhani also stressed that his administration used a host of ideas from economists and experts with a variety of views in formulating key economic policies. 
“The government has been committed to its pledge of making decisions based on collective wisdom and avoiding the use of personal judgements in devising major economic plans,” he said. 
The administration of new US President Joe Biden has repeatedly admitted to the failure of Trump’s maximum pressure. 
Biden expressed willingness to rejoin the deal in his campaigns and initiated indirect talks with Iran in Vienna, Austria, soon after taking office. 
Six rounds of negotiations have been held so far with great progress, but a conclusion is yet to be reached. The talks are expected to be resumed after Iran’s next president Ebrahim Raeisi is officially sworn in early August.