A top government official called for a collective effort to address widespread joblessness by helping attract vital foreign investment into the domestic economy, hit by years of crippling sanctions that were lifted in mid-January.
Sanctions relief was granted in return for time-bound constraints placed on Tehran's nuclear program under the July 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
"We need investment in various sectors to generate employment for four to five million youths," said Mohammad Nahavandian, chief of staff of President Hassan Rouhani, said in an interview with ISNA published on Friday.
"The action plan removed obstacles to investment, but certain conditions should be provided for the investment to actually materialize."
Rouhani's push for socioeconomic reforms and the country's reentry in international markets has faced opposition from conservative rivals.
They fear that such an opening could risk giving hostile western powers the long-sought chance to make inroads into the Islamic Republic.
"Definitely, foreign and local investors will not act without first ensuring it is safe" to make investment, Nahavandian said.
Need for Positive Climate
"Whoever helps create a more positive and reliable investment climate in Iran is helping resolve the problem, but those who are raising uncertainty and depicting the situation as ambiguous and blurred are not serving the country and some of what they do might amount to treason," he said.
The presidential chief of staff reiterated a point frequently made by the government's supporters in the face of criticism over its performance in negotiations leading to the historic agreement.
"The JCPOA and its approval and implementation were the outcome of a decision by the whole system," he said.
"As you see, those who created obstacles in the way of implementing the action plan have not stopped doing so and are now throwing obstacles in the way of its implementation."
JCPOA's opponents have been attacking Rouhani and his negotiating team for allegedly making too many concessions to the western side during the pre-deal negotiations and failing to adequately safeguard the establishment's redlines.
Nahavandian highlighted the composition of the current parliament whose takeover in May marked an end to three-term dominance by Rouhani's rival conservatives, predicting a close relationship between it and the government.
"I'm quite optimistic that the government and Majlis will engage in closer collaboration," he said.
A coalition of Rouhani's moderate supporters and reformists secured a stunning victory in February elections by sweeping all the 30 seats representing Tehran, the most influential constituency in the 290-member parliament.
