Iran Has New Plans to Raise Private Sector’s Share in Decision-Making: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani warned against the US-led “economic war” on the Islamic Republic and said the country plans to thwart Washington’s plots through strengthening the private sector.
“In today's economic war, the private sector has the same role that the Basij (popular forces) played during eight years of Sacred Defense (1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war on Iran),” Shamkhani said, addressing a meeting with a delegation from the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) and representatives of the country’s private sector in Tehran on Tuesday.
He added that in the ongoing economic war on Iran, which is led by the US and has far more complex dimensions than a military war, the only factor that can change “the unequal equation” is the reproduction of the vast experience and capacities of the people and the private sector’s contribution to the country’s decision-making process and major economic policies.
Shamkhani further praised the popular devoted activists in the private sector who are seeking to help resolve the country’s economic problems with their national and religious motivations.
New mechanisms have been adopted to activate and increase participation of as many private-sector activists and elites as possible in the country’s macro-decision making, which will be operational in the future, he went on to say.
The remarks came as US President Donald Trump on August 6 signed an executive order reimposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.
He said the US policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.
Trump also restated his opinion that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a “horrible, one-sided deal”.
On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has underlined that any decision to keep the JCPOA running without the US should be conditional on “practical guarantees” from the Europeans.
