Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called on the government to focus primarily on implementing a national economic plan to boost production and revive the export sector.
"Today, economic problems and challenges are top issues for the country, whose resolution depends on the thorough implementation of the Resistance Economy policies," the Leader was quoted as saying by his official website.
Resistance Economy is a comprehensive economic initiative outlined by the Leader to wean the country off oil revenues by boosting production and productivity.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the statements in a Wednesday meeting with President Hassan Rouhani and his Cabinet on the occasion of Government Week (Aug. 23-29).
"Any project that interferes with the principles of Resistance Economy should be abandoned," he said.
He cited handing over affairs to the private sector and offering economic incentives as measures required to facilitate the plan's implementation.
Ayatollah Khamenei underlined the need to ease restrictive regulations and cut red tape in the production sector.
On foreign policy, the Leader said the government should use its diplomatic resources to help develop ties with countries in different regions of the world.
"Asia, Africa and Latin America should have a proportionate share in the country's foreign policy," he said.
The Leader said the government should deal with crises in West Asia "carefully, vigilantly and actively", considering their "very complicated and inter-related" nature.
"We should use our diplomatic capacities to develop our economy," he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei touched on the July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, saying the unreliability of the US in honoring its promises should teach a lesson.
"This experience teaches us that no promises of any US administration can be trusted," he said.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of Iran's nuclear program, was signed between Iran and P5+1 (the US, Britain, Russia, China and France, plus Germany).
According to the deal that went into effect last January, Iran committed to contain its nuclear work and in exchange, the UN, EU and US undertook to remove their nuclear-related sanctions on Iran.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has confirmed Iran's compliance with the terms of the deal. However, Iran has voiced grievances that the other side, particularly the US, has not fully met its commitments, which has prevented it from reaping the full economic fruits of the landmark accord.
