Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in a congratulatory message released early Tuesday for Nowruz, the Iranian new year, emphasized the importance of stabilizing inflation and promoting growth in the coming year. Khamenei noted that the country’s weak economy was the most pressing issue faced by the Iranian people over the previous year, adding that inflation and rising prices were particularly concerning. He said low-income citizens bear the brunt of the rising prices and that government economic measures should lead to significant improvements in the quality of people’s lives.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed his administration’s commitment to fighting corruption, improving people’s livelihoods, controlling inflation, stimulating domestic production, and increasing employment. Raisi acknowledged that, although Iran’s inflation rate had fallen from 59% in September 2021 to 43% in February 2023, the decline was still unsatisfactory. The government’s primary focus in the new year will be to control inflation while promoting sustainable economic growth, he said.
The United States’ withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and the subsequent reimposition of sanctions on Iran in May 2018 led to unprecedented inflation, significantly impacting the purchasing power of Iranian citizens.