Government to Make Provision for Managing Affairs Under Sanctions

President Ebrahim Raeisi said his administration will act in a way that it can manage the country’s affairs even under sanctions by employing domestic capacities and principles of resistance economy. 
“While seeking ways to remove the sanctions, we will not link our efforts to address economic problems to the lifting of the restrictions,” he said in a Cabinet meeting on Sunday. 
Iran has been under sweeping American sanctions since the United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal three years ago. 
As other parties proved unable to offset the effects of US sanctions, Iran reacted by rowing back on its commitments and taking steps beyond the deal’s limits. 
New rounds of negotiations began in April to see if both sides can agree to resume full compliance. The talks have reached a halt as they came to key areas of difference. 
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called on the new government to make economic plans on the assumption that sanctions will continue. 
Raeisi urged his economic team to hold meetings with experts inside and outside of the government to find appropriate ways out of the current deplorable economic conditions.   
He told his Cabinet that oil sales and repatriation of the country’s assets unfairly frozen in other countries must be urgently placed on top the agenda of relevant organizations. 
Immediate measures, however, should not divert attention from fundamental solutions, according to the president. 
“Infrastructural and foundational work must be given assiduous attention by all government entities,” he said.
Raeisi highlighted the importance of controlling inflation and high prices and efforts to boost production and tackle people’s problems as items on top of his administration’s agenda. 
He called for the establishment of a working group to identify the existing manufacturing facilities that are completely or partially shut down and bring them back on track to help both create jobs and boost production.  

Hidden Hands

During the meeting, Raeisi once again stressed the need to consider the principle of justice in every decision the government makes, saying each directive and bill must have an annex of fairness. 
Combatting corruption must also be pursued as a supplementary to justice, according to him. 
“Government officials must review their subject organizations and move toward reforming structures that give rise to corruption and cut hidden hands of corruption,” he said. 
He also censured failure by state bodies to make or implement decisions at the appropriate time due to conflicts of personal interest.
“It is essential that both that body and the Intelligence Ministry and other monitoring organizations identify the hidden hands that pose obstacles and prosecute them,” he said.
The president later said electronic systems in financial sectors, such as banks, customs, tax and finance departments, must be interconnected so as to improve transparency and prevent corruption while paving the way for the development of a smart government. 
He also described lack of tracking as a missing link in the implementation of plans, saying officials must be double active in pursuing decisions rather than making them.   
Raeisi also said now is the best the time to use young workforce in the government. 
“We must allow the youth to demonstrate their talents and capabilities in the operational sphere,” he said.