TEHRAN -- Presidential candidate Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi said Wednesday he has set an agenda for securing a removal of the sanctions imposed on the Iranian nation, emphasizing the need for the country’s economy to be fortified in the face of both sanctions or any other shock that may hit.
Raisi, the Judiciary chief, told reporters that the Iranian administration should do all in its power “to confront those who seek to breach the Iranian nation’s rights and pursue the removal of the sanctions.”
“Definitely, action should be taken to [bring about] the removal of the sanctions, and the strategy [to do so] is already there,” he said. “Iran’s economy should be built in a way that neither sanctions nor any other shocks, from the coronavirus to flooding and incidents, can shake it.”
Iran has been the subject of tough American sanctions over the past decades. The U.S., however, tightened the economic restrictions in May 2018, after it withdrew a multinational nuclear agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.
Raisi said the current economic conditions in the country was “unacceptable” since the people are not able to predict their financial situation due to constant fluctuations.
Elsewhere, Raisi said efforts should be made to allay the people’s concerns over high healthcare prices by increasing the administration’s share in paying the costs.
The people currently have to pay 43 percent of healthcare costs, an amount that should be lowered, he added.
To that effect, Raisi said, “green credit cards” should be devised to help the people cover their healthcare costs and resolve issues over admission to hospital and treatment.
“We have to give credibility to health insurance cards, and the next stage would be developing supplementary insurance to soothe the people’s concerns over healthcare costs,” Raisi added.
Presidential candidate Alireza Zakani, an outspoken critic of the 2015 nuclear deal, said he will continue negotiations with the five parties to the agreement, if he is elected, to get back the rights of the Iranian nation that were violated following the U.S.’s unilateral withdrawal over three years ago.
In a press conference, Zakani said regardless of the nature of the nuclear deal, which he has repeatedly criticized, “We have been pursuing a series of demands” as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“Under the current circumstances, the United States and Europe have failed to fulfill their JCPOA commitments; therefore, it is necessary for us to continue negotiations with these countries to get back Iran’s rights,” said Zakani. “We will follow up on this case.”
“I do not rule out the principle of negotiation and favor anything that adds to our national interests,” Zakani said.
The United States, the lawmaker said, can rejoin the JCPOA only when it lifts its “brutal sanctions” against Iran, and when Tehran is given “legal guarantees that Iran’s interests under the JCPOA would be fulfilled.”
The Americans, however, “are willing to keep the infrastructure of the sanctions and bring up new issues in this area, both of which are our red lines,” Zakani added.