TEHRAN – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said here Tuesday that economy is the first issue of the country, calling on state officials and institutions to put people’s welfare on top of their priorities.
“The most important issue of the country is people’s livelihood. This year’s motto is an important motto,” the Leader said, referring to his labeling of the new Iranian year as the year of controlling inflation and boosting production.
“The fact that the motto for this year is an economic motto does not mean we are heedless of cultural and social issues. They are also important in their own place, but a disordered economy also affects the culture of the society,” he said.
The Leader made the remarks in an address to the heads of the three branches of power, senior managers of various institutions, lawmakers, former officials and social and cultural activists.
Ayatollah Khamenei touched on the country’s high inflation for several years in a row, saying it is a “very important” problem which affects the income distribution.
“This renders the income distribution unbalanced; some people remain deprived, and some people have their pockets filled in various ways. This leads to corruption on both sides,” the Leader said.
“Sometimes we were able to control inflation, but it came with stagnation, which is to the detriment of the country. It is not a good thing to bring down the inflation while recession dominates the economy. It is important to be able to control inflation without production being stagnant.
“Production should grow and this is possible,” he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran’s capacities are enormous, citing the country’s hardware portfolio, natural resources, geographical location, economic infrastructure, factories, software facilities, creative manpower, motivated young people, scientific and technological capacities as well as new thoughts.
“All these facilities should serve to curb inflation and spur production growth… All of these capacities should be used. We should use external communications. Foreign relations are not only relations with America and four European countries. The world consists of two-hundred and odd countries, each having a capacity. These external communications can be used for our purpose.”
Another requirement for the implementation of this year’s motto is stability in economic policies and decisions, Ayatollah Khamenei said.
“It is very harmful for the country to make continuous changes in our monetary and financial policies. This leads to uncertainty and makes the entrepreneur - the one who wants to invest - hesitant.
“We are now also looking for foreign investment; we tell foreigners to come and invest - anyone who is willing to come and invest, he will benefit, we will also benefit.
“But foreigners look at domestic investors, who are the showcase of the system. They want to see how you treat domestic investors, employers and entrepreneurs; then if they see that you behave well, they will come too.”
The Leader also touched on turmoil in the occupied Palestinian territories which have been hit by unprecedented waves of protests, prompting some prominent Israeli figures to warn of a looming collapse and disintegration of the Zionist entity.
“We said that the Zionist regime will not see another 25 years, they are in a hurry and want to leave sooner,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, referring to his famous 2015 prediction about the imminent collapse of Israel.
The Leader made several key recommendations regarding the economy, at the top of which is the fight against corruption.
“The fight against corruption, which was included in the slogans of the Honorable President [Ebrahim Raisi] during the elections and after the elections, we all really believe in it. The fight against corruption is essential. Of course, it is a very difficult task. Like a seven-headed dragon, it threatens man from all sides.”
Corruption, the Leader said, frustrates people and reduces their desire for healthy conduct.
“When someone sees that a certain person can fill his own pocket with an illegal method, he is also tempted. Corruption is a contagious disease, it is a very dangerous disease that really destroys the society.
“The fight against corruption is necessary. It is necessary to fight corruption wherever it is, without any inhibition. It is at the top of the important tasks that are necessary in the field of economy.”
One of the country’s problems, Ayatollah Khamenei also said, is its reliance on the dollar in different sectors of the economy.
“Some countries have weaned themselves off the dollar, carrying out their transactions through systems other than SWIFT after they we were dropped from the platform. These are the countries whose situation has improved now.”
The Leader said the world is going through an important political transformation, where the international order is changing.
“I would like to say today that this global development is fortunately heading toward weakening the front of the enemies of the Islamic Republic. This is an important thing.
“Changes are happening very fast. In our foreign policy, we should increase the mobility of our initiatives in foreign policy. We must increase initiative, mobility, and activity, and take advantage of the opportunity.”
Ayatollah Khamenei also touched on Islam’s dress code of hijab, saying it is a legal and Sharia requirement.
“It is not a government restriction. It is legal and a religious must. Discarding hijab is forbidden in Sharia, it is politically forbidden. It is both a Sharia and political haram.”
The Leader said many of those who flout hijab rules do not realize what lies behind the act.
“If they know who are behind what they are doing, they will definitely not do it,” he said, stating that the intelligence services of the enemies are behind the move