Iran’s leaders offer different economic visions for coming year

Iran’s two most powerful figures offered contrasting visions for the economy in speeches marking Iranian new year on Sunday, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for self-reliance and President Hassan Rouhani urging cooperation with the world. In Nowruz speeches, Khamenei and Rouhani looked back on the past year, which saw sanctions on Iran lifted under a nuclear deal with world powers, and agreed the economy should be a top priority in the new Iranian year. But while Rouhani said further engagement with other countries was the key to economic growth, Khamenei reaffirmed his commitment to the concept of a “resistance economy” centred on self-sufficiency.

I am sure that with cooperation and effort inside the country, and constructive engagement with the world, our economy can bloom and develop.

President Hassan Rouhani

Khamenei declared the new Iranian year – 1395 – the year of “the Resistance Economy: Action and Implementation”, and said the Islamic Republic should take steps to reduce its vulnerability to the designs of its “enemies”, meaning the United States and its allies. The 76-year-old cleric, Iran’s highest authority, has consistently warned against allowing any form of Western influence to enter the Islamic Republic, and recently said the economy had not benefited from an influx of Western business delegations to Tehran.

Iran Nowruz