Resolution of the Assembly of Experts on People's Livelihood; Emphasis on Support for Syria and Palestine

The Assembly of Experts concluded its fifth official meeting on Wednesday evening after a two-day session focused on "examining the leadership's demands for improving the country's economic situation and resolving people's livelihood issues" and issued a resolution. The members of the Assembly emphasized at the beginning of this resolution the "revolution and struggle against America and international Zionism and support for the Islamic resistance front, especially Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and the oppressed people of Bahrain." This comes as U.S. officials have stated that the return of American sanctions, which has exacerbated the economic situation for people in Iran, is partly due to the continuation of the Islamic Republic's current policies in the same regions mentioned in the Assembly's resolution. U.S. officials have called for negotiations with Iran to change the Islamic Republic's regional policies, but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has declared such negotiations to be prohibited. In a speech in April this year regarding Iran's presence in Iraq and Syria, Khamenei stated: "International busybodies complain about why Iranians interfere in Iraq and Syria; what is it to you?" The new resolution of the Assembly further states that "acknowledging the role and position of the people in the Islamic system and thanking the patient and resilient Islamic Iranian nation for the unique importance of the lofty position of Imamate, Wilayat, and leadership of the Islamic Ummah, which is the source of legitimacy for the Islamic system, is insisted upon." Iranian officials have always urged the people of Iran to be "patient" in the face of economic problems, and Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Assembly of Experts, previously criticized those who seek to establish relations with America and break the sanctions, stating that what is wrong if the situation worsens and one meal is eaten a day. He added, "They should not talk nonsense; I say that it may reach a point in the path of resistance where we have to endure hardships. It may come to a time when we eat two meals a day; what is wrong even if the conditions worsen and we eat one meal a day?" The resolution on Wednesday emphasized what it called the "comprehensiveness of the measures, guidelines, and orders of the leadership in all matters, especially in attention to resistant economy and solving people's livelihood problems," and called on the country's officials to follow the "guidelines" of Ali Khamenei in economic matters. Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Assembly, also defended the performance of Ayatollah Khamenei in the opening speech of the fifth meeting, attributing the existing chaos and problems in the country to other branches of government, especially the administration. Jannati's defense and the Assembly's support for Khamenei's performance come amid increasing criticism of the Assembly in recent months. For instance, Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of the Assembly, has repeatedly stated that the duty of this body is to supervise the leadership and the agencies and institutions under the leadership's authority, but every now and then, members of this Assembly gather "to have dinner and lunch and issue statements against the seditionists." Mehdi Karroubi, a leader of the "Green" protest movement, also wrote in a letter to the members of the Assembly of Experts on Sunday, urging them to question the Supreme Leader about the policies of the past three decades that have led Iran to its current situation instead of "praising and glorifying" him. The new resolution of the Assembly also recommended general economic solutions to the government and officials, including "contentment and serious avoidance of extravagance," "attention to resistant economy," "reform of the country's banking structure," and "creation of productive employment."