Iran’s candidate sharply criticizes the “soft” foreign policy of Rouhani and Zarif

Ultra-tough candidate and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili defended his own record in nuclear negotiations on Friday, sharply criticizing President Hassan Rouhani’s government for its diplomacy.

“I told the previous (Rouhani) government that they must take action to eliminate the strategy of maximum pressure (by the US on the Islamic Republic), but some people in this administration did not agree… In Mr. Raisi’s administration, however, these strategies were implemented, and as a result, the enemy admitted the futility of the maximum pressure strategy,” Jalili said in his first economic discussion broadcast on state television.

The Trump administration withdrew from the Obama-era JCPOA nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed crippling sanctions on Iran. Oil exports fell from a high of 2.2 million barrels per day in 2017 to just under 300,000 in 2019.

This plunged Iran into a deep recession and led to an inflation rate that remains at 50% to this day. Although the economic crisis is the most pressing issue for most voters, candidates avoid addressing Iran’s foreign policy and nuclear program, which have led to isolation and sanctions.

Jalili, a former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and a nuclear negotiator under populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who formed a shadow government when Hassan Rouhani was elected president in 2013, held the Rouhani administration responsible for “doubling down” on sanctions. He claimed that during the three-year presidency of Ebrahim Raisi, Iran managed to increase oil exports.

“Constructive and broad relations with the world are needed to (improve) the economy. This happened during the tenure of the martyr Raisi. “Now the US foreign secretary must explain to the Senate why Iran can now sell two million barrels of oil,” he said.

Like other candidates, Jalili was accompanied by two economic advisers during his television appearance. During the 45-minute program, three economic experts questioned the candidate and his advisers.

“Mr. Jalili’s foreign policy is a continuation of Dr. Raisi’s policy,” said one of Jalili’s advisers, Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari, emphasizing that relations with neighboring countries, including economic relations, have improved during Raisi’s unfinished term. “Currently two-thirds We import the red meat we need from neighboring countries. Exports have increased and we have developed infrastructure,” he said.

During the discussion, Jalili was attacked by one of the experts who questioned his performance as Iran’s nuclear negotiator. Ebrahim Mottaghi, an economics professor at the University of Tehran, said there was no progress in nuclear talks during Jalili’s term from 2007 to 2013 and the situation devolved into several UN resolutions against Iran.

“What tangible achievements have you achieved during your term that you want to continue with the same policies announced earlier?” Jalili asked.

“As our power increases, we will become clearer in the equations,” Jalili said in response. He argued that during the period Mottaghi mentions, the United States had a strong presence in Iraq and Afghanistan that it could not maintain due to the effectiveness of the policies pursued by the Islamic Republic.

“(The United States) could not carry out the plans it had for us and that was the result of (our) planning… I believe in mitigating threats and making the most of opportunities as the (desired) outcome of foreign policy, not simply trips and meetings with foreign (officials).” ” Jalili said.

“Why are adversarial and adversarial media networks more sensitive about you than other candidates?” – Foad Izadi, another panel expert who shared Jalili’s economic views, asked him. In his response, Jalili suggested that, as the question suggested, he was targeted because they expect him to be as successful as Raisi allegedly was in defeating the maximum pressure strategy against the Islamic Republic.