“The goal of the enemies in this war has been the collapse of the Iranian economy; that was their intention. Now, the collapse of the economy was, of course, a prelude in order to set the people against the Islamic Republic by destroying the Iranian economy and to carry out their malicious political intentions in this way,” the Leader said in an address to a group of Iranian producers and entrepreneurs in Tehran Sunday.
Ayatollah Khamenei hailed Iranian producers, entrepreneurs and workers as “officers” of the battle against the enemies’ economic war.
“The country's stronghold of production and economy is alive; thank God, it is standing. The army that stood against the enemy - the officers of this holy defense - were the entrepreneurs and capable economic managers. Its warriors were also workers. The workers were the sincere and earnest warriors of this battle. You and all economic actors share in this honor of preserving the country's economy,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated his oft-repeated line that officials should not tie the country's economy to the results of negotiations currently underway in Vienna to remove US sanctions on Iran.
“I always repeat that you should not condition the country's economy and economic activities. Do not pause over something that is not in our hands,” the Leader said in his remarks directed at state officials.
Ayatollah Khamenei described production as struggle in the path of Allah, which is known as the principle of jihad in Islam.
“The resistance of the producers against the attack on the economy and the enemy's efforts to prevent the sale of oil and gas and cut foreign exchange resources and against its plans to block Iran's foreign trade are in fact jihad and one of the greatest acts of worship."
The enemy's plans to “conquer the production stronghold” of Iran as part of its economic war on the country have failed, Ayatollah Khamenei added.
“In this onslaught on the country's economy, there were problems in people's livelihoods, but the production sector did not come to its knees, and a US State Department spokesman explicitly stated a few days ago that the policy of maximum pressure had led to the tragic defeat of the United States."
The Leader was apparently referring to US State Department spokesman Ned Price who said last Tuesday that the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, initiated by the Trump administration and maintained by the Biden administration, has been an “abject failure”.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran’s economy needs a leap in production to overcome problems and remain immune to internal and external shocks.
“A jump in production leads to improved economic indicators such as sustainable employment, export boom, foreign exchange earnings and lower inflation. It leads to national self-confidence that is a guarantor of national dignity and security.”
Ayatollah Khamenei touched on Iran’s great potentials and vast possibilities as acknowledged by domestic and foreign experts, saying “if efficient, hard-working and caring managers use these capacities correctly, the situation will certainly be many times different”.
He said the cause of economic problems in the country is not solely the sanctions, but wrong decisions and dereliction on the part of officials are behind many of the problems.
The Leader also said he is generally not opposed to the participation of foreign companies in Iranian projects, “but I believe domestic knowledge-based companies can meet our needs in large industries such as oil”.
“Therefore, it should not be assumed that the advancement of technology in various industries depends only on the presence of foreign companies.”
Thousands of small and medium-sized knowledge-based companies have been established in Iran in recent years, but the knowledge-based nature of large industries has been neglected, he added.
“The ability and knowledge of talented young people should be used in this field, just as whenever young people were trusted and given tasks from developing coronavirus vaccines to precision missiles, they really shone,” the Leader said.
“Our talented young people have also done outstanding work in the field of nanotechnology, stem cells and biotechnology and shown that ‘Iranian youth can’."