Appreciating the decisive vote of the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to the proposed Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, the President emphasised that the ministry is at the front line of the economic war today, bearing the heavy responsibility of supplying basic and essential goods and advancing the production process.
Speaking on Wednesday in the cabinet meeting, Dr Hassan Rouhani mentioned the four main responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, and said, "The most important priority is in making the slogan of Surge in Production happen".
Referring to the statistics of the first 5 months of the current Iranian year compared to the same period last year, the President said, "Despite the outbreak of coronavirus, these figures show the significant growth of the country's industrial sectors, including steel, petrochemicals, home appliances and automobiles".
Dr Rouhani said, "It is very important for the dear people to know that despite all the difficulties and the pressure of sanctions, our production sector in the fields of agriculture, industry and services has grown significantly".
The President referred to "non-oil exports and its importance during the oil embargo" and said, "Oil and gas exports and oil condensate in the past years provided the currency needed by the country, but now that we are facing problems, this task is on the shoulders of non-oil exports".
The President stated, "Please note that the economic war has taken place in these three years, and what happened in the past was sanctions and not an economic war. Under those conditions, the government exported at least one million barrels of oil per day, and its average price was above $100, and at times it even reached $120, and our banks did not face the situation today".
Dr Rouhani said, "Of course, in the 11th government, we were removed from the FATF black list and the situation improved, although we had problems twice because despite the government's insistence and the meeting of the three branches to implement the four bills faster, some of them faced some problems".
The President said, "In any case, today non-oil exports are providing the currency needed by the country, which is mainly on the shoulders of industry and to some extent agriculture and services".
The President added, "The provision of basic and essential goods is very important for us, and thank God, in the difficult conditions that coronavirus has created for us, our efforts to provide the health and medical goods needed by the people were right".
Dr Rouhani state, "Of course, the foreign currency requirements of all our sectors are a little far from what is provided, and our situation is the conditions that caused this gap, and this is what I say that to face many of the problems that exist today, we have to give the right address to the people".
Dr Rouhani said, "We must explain the facts to the people as they are. Sanctions have been in place for years, but the economic war has been going on since 2018. Let us not make mistakes and distort the address and date, and instead tell the facts to the people, which of course does not mean that we are scared and retreated in the face of enemy conspiracies".
The President described the fourth duty of the Ministry of Industry as monitoring the market and said, "It is very important to take care of the market, the warehouse and the customs in times of war".
The President added, "It is true that the government's view is that we must interact with the world, we will repeat it a thousand more times. We said 'constructive interaction', and the Supreme Leader corrected it and said 'extensive constructive interaction', so we should have an extensive constructive interaction with the world".
The president added, "We should talk about the problems, but also explain to the people what has been done and let the people know the facts of our situation. If someone says that all the problems are on the shoulders of the executive management and the government, it is wrong. We all have a heavy burden today. This heavy burden must be borne by the three branches, the armed forces and our dear people until we reach our destination".
The President further pointed out the importance of attracting foreign capital and Iranians living abroad and said, "By giving personal security and security to their capitals, a lot of capital should enter the country, which is in their interest and the benefit of the people and the country".
Expressing the US effort for hatching plots against Iran, Rouhani said, "Of course, the Americans themselves are in a very difficult situation. Last night, if some of our people saw the debate or read it in the press and cyberspace today, they can clearly see in what situation they are. On the one hand, they had the worst management in coronavirus, and the worst unemployment rate has hit them today".
"On the other hand, the internal unrest inside the United States is worse than before, and also they did not achieve any victory in foreign policy. They also failed in foreign policy, not only against Iran, but also in the region and the Pacific, and with Europe and NAFTA. They failed everywhere in foreign policy," he added.
The president also said, "It is natural for a country that has so many problems to want to transfer these problems to the outside world. Then they conspire against Iran".
The President stated, "Today, the most hostile and criminal policies and the most terrorist policies have been used by the United States against the people of Iran and this 84 million population, and you see in all areas that we are facing these problems today".
Emphasising that the only way to deal with these problems is unity, solidarity and holding hands, Dr Rouhani said, "We must respect these tribunes that the nation has given us, and speak in favour of the people and in the path of unity. If we wish to advance partisan and factional goals, we will certainly not achieve the goals we have today".
The President emphasised, "Our enemies have been unsuccessful in these 3 years and, God willing, they will be unsuccessful in these last months and the situation will not remain like this and will change. If we stand and be united and our voice is one and our actions are together, we can get over these problems well".