Iran’s incoming president Ebrahim Raisi has said he will work to lift the tyrannical US sanctions adding that the Iranian economy will not be linked to the will of foreigners.
Raisi who is under personal U.S. sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in his past as a judge promised to improve the living conditions of Iranians, which have worsened since 2018 when Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran after abandoning a nuclear deal. He said:
We will seek to lift the tyrannical sanctions imposed by America.
But we will not tie the … economy to the will of foreigners
Raisi who was elected in June to replace pragmatist Hassan Rouhani will be sworn in Thursday as Iran’s eighth president. He inherits a troubled economy whose fate has been weaved with political upheavals.
One inescapable economic hardship that increasingly makes everyday life more difficult for Iranians is inflation, which many Iranian economists and analysts expect to remain above 40 per cent at least until later this year.
US sanctions have effectively blocked the country’s access to its own currency reserves outside the country, cut Iran out of the global economy, slashing oil revenues and incomes.
As the administration of former US President Donald Trump continuously blacklisted Iran, the cash-strapped government of former President Hassan Rouhani kept leaning on a dependent central bank to print more money.
Since 2018, when the US unilaterally abandoned Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and embarked on a maximum pressure campaign to restrain the country’s economy, Iranian officials have promised to introduce “structural reforms” to detach the country’s overstretched budget off of oil revenues.
Iran says it is busting US sanctions by relying on its “resistance economy” doctrine of boosting local production.
Raisi has also promised to form a “strong” government that would be able to exact concessions from the West during talks over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the nuclear deal is formally known, and lift US sanctions for good.
Meanwhile, the Joe Biden administration has indicated the desire to normalise relations with Iran and also hopes to bring back the JCPOA.
More: Al Jazeera; Reuters