TEHRAN -- President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday visited Iran’s remotest border province of Sistan and Baluchestan, where he pledged to wipe out poverty and discrimination as he talked to locals to get a close understanding of their problems.
Raisi arrived in the province on Thursday, marking his second unannounced visit since he became president, in what is widely regarded as his attempt to fulfill his campaign promise of uprooting poverty and inequality.
He said living in huts due to poverty is not a desirable situation for the people of the area, stressing that any measure to improve the living conditions of deprived areas is an admirable deed for those behind the move.
While paying a visit to the coastal region of Makran, the president described it as a “national treasure”, and said more attention should be paid to its strategic development, Press TV reported.
“We should develop a good mechanism for a production boom [in the region],” he said. “The issue of development of Makran coasts must be seen and followed in a special way.”
“If given the required attention, the Makran and Chabahar regions by themselves will increase the capacity of the province’s economic development and eradicate poverty in Sistan and Baluchestan,” Raisi added.
He also expressed joy over the unity he witnessed between Shias and Sunnis in the province.
The president continued his trip to different areas of Sistan and Baluchestan on Friday, promising to follow up on the people’s water issue in order to turn the “threat” and “problem” into an “opportunity” and resolve the underprivileged people’s problems with respect to drinking and agricultural water.
Raisi said the governors of deprived provinces, including Sistan and Baluchestan, have been granted additional authority to resolve their problems rapidly.
He made his first unannounced visit to Iran’s key province of Khuzestan last Friday, only two days after the formation of his cabinet.
In a meeting with the new administration in Tehran last Saturday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei lauded the move.
“One of the manifestations of being popular is going among the people and hearing directly from the people. This very good and commendable move that Mr. Raeisi made yesterday, when he went to Khuzestan among the people, heard from them, talked to them, is a manifestation of being popular, which is a very good thing,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.