Rouhani: Tackling economic woes high on agenda
President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday assured the Iranian nation that tackling economic problems and restoring the rights of the people were high on the agenda of his government.
“The main approach of the administration in the budget bill for the year 1397 (the next Iranian year beginning on March 21, 2018) is to create jobs and move towards uprooting absolute poverty; following the emphasis of the Leader, people expect all branches of government, organizations and bodies to help the immediate realization of these goals and restoration of the rightful demands of people through sympathy and friendship,” Rouhani said at a cabinet session.
The president noted that problems had not been created overnight; they were the result of mismanagement in the past, urging all to join hands to dissuade enemies from achieving their plots and to help the government revitalize the economy.
The comments followed days of protests which erupted peacefully in late December over economic woes but turned violent in certain towns and cities.
On Tuesday, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urged officials to accommodate people’s “honest and rightful demands,” saying these issues should be “separated from acts of violence and sabotage.”
“No one is opposed to public gatherings,” the Leader said, adding that voices raised in such rallies should be heard but they shouldn’t be hijacked by some to “curse Islam” or “disrespect Iran’s flag.”
President Rouhani said he has tasked Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli with preparing a detailed report on the recent deadly violence as well as the individuals arrested, injured or killed.
General Saeed Montazer-ul-mahdi, a police spokesman, said on Sunday that a total of 20 people, including a police officer, were killed in the riots.
Press TV contributed to this story.