Iran Determined to Move Forward Despite Hostilities 

President Ebrahim Raisi said the Iranian people are determined to move forward despite efforts by the enemies to stop the country’s progress.
Speaking in a televised interview on Tuesday night, the president said Iran’s enemies plotted the recent riots across the country out of outrage at the failure of their sanctions in impeding the Islamic Republic’s economic and developmental progress, adding that “the riots and the sanctions were two sides of the same coin,” Tasnim News Agency reported.
The president noted how the sanctions had failed to bring production in the country to a standstill and prevent the country from experiencing economic progress.
“Whatever [the enemy] was after [stifling], has been [contrarily] realized thanks to the nation’s will and the government’s intention to serve [the people],” Raisi said, noting that “therefore, it is natural that the enemy should be angry at us.”
“One of the reasons [behind the enemy’s fomenting] of the recent riots was the very fact that it was witnessing that its sanctions have been neutralized thanks to the efforts of our statesmen and the steadfastness of the people,” the top official stressed.
“While the enemies are trying to stop the country’s progress, our people have resolved to move forward,” he remarked, asserting that the course of the country’s advancement would gather further momentum every day owing to the nation’s willpower and the government’s determination to be at the nation’s service.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the president enumerated his administration’s successful performance in various areas, including its managing to bring down the country’s 60% inflation level to 40% and its success to eliminate the budget deficit and increase the economic growth level from 0.4% to 4.4% within just six months of taking office.
The administration, he added, was also trying to de-dollarize the staples so a potential increase in the dollar’s exchange rate would not adversely affect the cost of the commodities.
Raisi identified smuggling and suppliers’ under-provision of the staples as two main reasons behind the increase in prices.
He said the recent riots had played a role in reducing income generation levels across the country, and, in turn, increased the dollar’s exchange rate, but assured the nation that the country’s foreign exchange reserves currently stood at a “good and reliable” level.
Raisi urged those active in the field of exports to return their foreign exchange income to the country so the Central Bank would be capable of exercising more control on foreign reserves.