The Assembly of Experts in Iran urged President Ebrahim Raisi and his government to solve national crises.
Head of the Assembly of Experts Council Ahmed Jannati said that the government is demanded to pay attention to the people’s living and economic issues, urging the new president and his team to be serious in this regard.
Speaking during the semi-annual meeting of the council, Jannati said four years is a short period to provide services to the people, but it should be exploited to the fullest extent.
He also demanded that the Assembly play a significant role in naming the government.
Jannati, 94, is also the secretary of the Guardian Council, which is charged with reviewing parliament’s decisions and examining the eligibility of candidates for the presidential and legislative elections.
The Assembly convenes twice a year and elects a new Supreme Leader if the current one cannot continue in his position. It also supervises the performance of the leader, a power that many in Iran believe is invalid.
The clerics’ confirmation comes less than a week after the Iranian parliament approved key ministers who made great promises to curb the economic crisis and improve living conditions.
The state-run ISNA news agency quoted Raisi saying that “with the coordination and measures taken, the supply and storage of basic goods are acceptable, and there is no problem in this regard.”
Raisi was speaking during the Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Board meeting to discuss the situation of stocks and supply of essential goods.
The inflation rate approached 50 percent, and a new statistic showed that a third of Iranians live below the poverty line.
The Iranian economy suffers from US sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump to push Tehran to a broader agreement on its nuclear program and address its spending on regional activities and ballistic missiles.
Iran’s newly appointed oil minister, Javad Oji, said that US sanctions had deprived his country of more than $100 billion in oil revenues, declaring its readiness to increase its oil production to the highest possible level as soon as US sanctions are lifted.
Meanwhile, the new Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian discussed during a phone call with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg, matters of mutual interest to both countries and ways to bolster bilateral relations.
During the conversation, Iran’s top diplomat noted that although Iran welcomes negotiations on the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it believes that “engaging in negotiations for the sake of negotiations is not acceptable.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has kept its end of the bargain in maintaining the JCPOA through its strategic patience in the face of the US withdrawal and the inaction of the European side, and now it’s about time for the other JCPOA parties to cooperate and honor their commitments in a real and practical manner,” said Abdollahian.
Later, Abdollahian told his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, “We agree on the essence of Vienna talks, but we [only] accept those negotiations that would lead to the removal of the [US] sanctions and meet the inalienable rights of Iran.”
The Iranian FM advised the three European parties to the JCPOA, Germany, the UK, and France, also known as E3, to change course about implementing the deal and end their inaction toward their JCPOA obligations.
Abdollahian also said the US does not correctly understand the region and its people, particularly Iran.
“The Americans need to know that they must speak only through the language of respect, courtesy, and logic and that the language they occasionally use not only does not help resolve the problems but creates more problems in itself.”