‘Instead of Apologizing to the People,’ an Iranian Website Criticizes Rouhani’s Team’s Candidacy for the Presidency

An Iranian website has highlighted some of the presidential election candidates in Iran, whose moves are the subject of “bewilderment and questioning.”

The Resalat website said in an article by writer Saeed Norouzi: “The thing that raised questions is the candidacy of Eshaq Jahangiri, the first Vice President of Hassan Rouhani throughout his presidency, who is among the negligent in the recent situation in the country of corruption, inflation and others, and instead of justifying his shortcomings to the people, he becomes a candidate for the elections!”

He continued: “In addition to the Central Bank Governor Abdul Nasser Hemmati, who since he assumed his position the situation has worsened, and the price of the dollar has risen, as well as the rate of inflation, among other problems.”

The article also dealt with the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Abbas Akhoundi, and how the value of houses increased during his tenure in the ministry.

Norouzi said: “With the end of the registration of candidates in the elections, the atmosphere of the elections became clear after a while, and in the end the people knew the personalities competing for the presidency of the republic.”

During these elections, the two political wings in the republic (reformists and conservatives) took part, and several people announced their candidacy for each party, but within this bold presence there are several eye-catching reformist candidates.

Statesmen Audacity

Norouzi considered that “the candidates are the same personalities who gave promises to the people of well-being and a comfortable life, but their performance was not approved by the people, and they will most likely not accept it again.”

Addeing: “Currently, Rouhani’s vice, Jahangiri, the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Akhoundi, and the governor of the Central Bank, Hemmati, have run for elections, after having the state affairs at their disposal during recent years, yet during that period they did not take any positive step, rather they were part of the reasons that led to the status quo.”

Norouzi continued saying: “It is clear that the registration of statesmen’s names is accompanied by slogans such as fighting poverty, economic stagnation, inflation, unemployment, and others, but at the same time they are accused of serious mismanagement and losing hold of the reins of affairs, and they must respond to 85 million Iranians.”

He stressed that “it is recognized that the increase in the poverty line in the country is a cause for concern, because unemployment and inflation converge with this indicator, and its increase illustrates the bad economic situation for families, resulting from the economic policies of the Rouhani government.”

Norouzi pointed out that “these personalities caused a change in the general atmosphere of the state in favor of Rouhani and having him became president of the republic with their support and undoubtedly sabotaging of the opposite wing on the one hand, and by their presence in the government and their lack of management, which caused a critical situation for the people, on the other hand.”

The writer stated: “There is no doubt that one of the persons who caused the critical situation of the people, and had a special role in the country’s economic crisis, is Jahangiri, who was Hassan Rouhani’s first vice president for 8 years.”

During two periods of running for the Rouhani team, its presence in the state caused so much harm to the people so much so that “basic commodities such as meat and chicken are no longer found by the poorer class of society.”

Norouzi added: “Now, in this situation, it is surprising that the current First Vice President in the government is preparing to enter the election race, regardless of Jahangiri being the First Vice President in the government with several other titles, he claimed during his election statement that one of the reasons for the situation of our country today was weak CEOs!”

The writer rhetorically asked Jahangiri: “What have you done during these years to improve the situation so that you want to remain and continue at the present time?”

Wonder and Astonishment

Norouzi stated that “the governor of the Central Bank, Hemmati, is also among the personalities who registered their name in the elections.”

And he considered that “the announcement of a candidacy of the likes of Jahangiri’s candidacy, is a subject of wonder and astonishment! He was known during his presence in the Central Bank as one of the weakest economic managers in the government, as many prices achieved record numbers, and this increase in rates caused the dollar to reach 30 thousand tomans.”

On July 25, 2018, Hemmati was appointed governor of the Central Bank by a final decision of the President of Iran and the endorsement of the governmental body, and he has assumed responsibility for managing the Central Bank since then.

On the same date, the value of the gold coin reached nearly 3 million tomans, and the dollar rate also exceeded the 4 thousand tomans.

But during the performance of Hemmati and his economic plans, these percentages were not controlled, rather they reached astronomical numbers, and during the past few months the gold coin exceeded 16 million tomans, and the dollar price also rose above 30 thousand tomans, and it became a trade, according to the writer.

His performance can be described by referring to the inflation reaching a point of 49.5 percent, the growth of liquidity to 3380 thousand billion tomans, in addition to the free fall of the stock market, according to Norouzi.

Undoubtedly, it is not intended that Hemmati is the only negligent in the economic turmoil, perhaps the current problems are due to the labor policy and the economic team of the Rouhani government, but the Governor of the Central Bank is one of the negligent persons in the situation, and it is natural that he did not and cannot control the market situation.

Instead of responding to his performance and apologizing to the people, he became a candidate for the presidency, the writer says.

And Norouzi added: “Minister Akhoundi was one of the individuals in Rouhani’s government a few years ago, and he became a candidate today, and the hopes were pinned on his wisdom and management during the first 5 years as he was Minister of Roads and Urban Development, but during the same period he caused many losses to the republic and the people.”

Reports based on Central Bank data showed that the value of housing in the city of Tehran during 2017 and 2018 increased by 74 percent, and during his five-year period in the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, it increased by 166 percent.

The writer concluded his article by saying: “Based on the statistics, it became clear that Akhoundi did not accomplish anything related to housing, and rather turned home ownership into a wish for young people, and yet today he is seeking the presidency!”

On May 25, 2021, the Guardian Council in Iran approved 7 candidates out of 592 to run in the upcoming presidential elections, while a number of others were excluded from the race, most notably former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, as well as Jahangiri.