President Hassan Rouhani said the government should maintain the path of moderation in its domestic and foreign policies, as there is no other way to advance the country and Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The president made the statement in an address to local officials in Qazvin Province on Thursday, IRNA reported.
Rouhani said viewing all other countries as adversaries and having no outside contact will not help the country progress.
“Promotion of investment, export and import, tourism and technology hinges on connections with the outside world,” he said. “We cannot experience everything ourselves and start from scratch.”
The president was responding to his conservative opponents who criticize his plans for economic engagement with western states that are distrusted in Iran for their hostile policies and believe the government is not making enough efforts to exploit the domestic economic potential.
Useless Rows
Rouhani said partisan rivalries, if they observe norms, are respected under the law, but those rivalries should not lead to “useless fights and quarrels”.
“If we clash with each other and only pursue our partisan goals, we will suffer defeats,” he said.
The president also hit out at those who “sow seeds of hopelessness in the hearts of people”, saying some who believe weakening the government will strengthen them only harm the nation and would not gain anything.
The administration of Rouhani, which took over in 2013, championed the nuclear deal with world powers, under which Iran put temporary curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of international nuclear-related sanctions.
His opponents believe the deal has conceded too much to the other side and not given rise to real benefits for the Iranian economy.
Months after the January implementation of the nuclear deal, Iranian officials complain that the other side, specifically the US, has not assisted it to reap the full economic fruits of the pact.
Rouhani said his recent meetings with world leaders at the 71st UN General Assembly in New York showed that the government has been successful in countering Iranophobia and developing Iran’s cooperation with other countries.
“In recent years, whenever we went to the UN [headquarters in New York], debates were focused on [tightening] Iran sanctions ... but at this UNGA, most countries were criticizing the US for not honoring its [nuclear deal] obligations.”
The president said his talks with heads of state on the sidelines of the gathering of world leaders focused on attracting foreign investment and transferring technologies to Iran for increasing the quality of domestic products and exports.
Rouhani said the government is on the right track in implementing Resistance Economy, a set of policies proposed by the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to promote economic self-reliance and weaning the country of heavy dependence on oil revenues.
