Hassan Rouhani: I Will Lift the Remaining Sanctions on Iran in the Next Four Years

Hassan Rouhani, who has once again nominated himself for the presidential election for the next four years, stated on Friday during the final debate of the candidates that he is ready to lift the remaining sanctions on Iran. The President of Iran, who openly attacked the statements and promises of his conservative rivals, summarized the third debate by saying: "The people of Iran and I have made a pact, we stood against the sanctions, and we eliminated the pretext that could have led to war against us." He emphasized that if elected again, "I am prepared to lift all sanctions except for nuclear sanctions in the next four years and restore Iran's dignity and interests." Iran and six world powers reached a nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in July 2015, under which Tehran halted many of its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting or suspension of international sanctions against Iran. However, in the past year, officials of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly complained about banking and foreign investment obstacles due to other U.S. sanctions. The Iranian president did not mention examples of non-nuclear sanctions in his remarks on Friday, but despite the lifting of nuclear sanctions, Iran remains on the list of other sanctions by the European Union and the U.S. due to military activities, missile issues, and human rights violations. Rouhani's promise comes at a time when Donald Trump's administration has taken a hardline stance against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The new U.S. president has criticized the JCPOA, although he has stated that he will respect the agreement as long as Iran adheres to it. Nevertheless, the U.S. State Department and the White House have announced plans to review the JCPOA. In another part of his speech, Rouhani said, "With the success of the nuclear agreement, the country's revenue will increase by $20 billion this year. We plan to allocate $15 billion of this amount to development and investment in cooperation with banks and another $3 to $5 billion to support the poor and vulnerable groups." The Iranian president faced the harshest criticism from his conservative rivals during this debate, who questioned his economic policies. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, stated that "the country is facing an economic crisis, as evidenced by recession, unemployment, and inflation." He added, "A tree that has not borne fruit in the past four years will not bear fruit in the future either." Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi, also stated that "one of the pears we should have harvested from the JCPOA was foreign investment," and asked, "Mr. Rouhani, how much foreign investment have you attracted, which was one of the pears you should have harvested from the JCPOA? Currently, this amount is $500 million, which is less than a billion." The Iranian presidential election is scheduled for May 29, and candidates have one week left to utilize the remaining time for campaigning until Thursday to present their programs.