Rouhani Criticizes Judiciary's Treatment of Investors

While the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic explicitly criticized the economic performance of Hassan Rouhani's government in his Nowruz message, Hassan Rouhani on Saturday, April 5, directed criticisms at the judiciary regarding production and investment issues. The Iranian President, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Kurdistan petrochemical project, stated regarding the judiciary: "With effort, pleading, and begging, we bring someone to invest here, and suddenly someone decides to summon him over a trivial matter. It is not possible to work like this." According to IRNA news agency, Rouhani emphasized: "If a mistake is made, it should be addressed immediately, and arrest and imprisonment should be the last resort. The year of production and employment should not be a year of catching people, but rather a year of assisting and supporting them." Rouhani also urged the judiciary to "provide statistics to the public regarding actions taken to support production and investment." He explained: "The judiciary must enter the field and report to the people at the end of the year. Instead of summoning or even arresting a producer or factory owner, the investigator should be sent to the location to resolve issues in the best possible way, and ultimately, we can even kiss the investigator's hand." As criticism from the Supreme Leader and others regarding Rouhani's economic performance intensified, Rouhani described his government's achievements in certain economic areas as "unprecedented" compared to the past 25 years and recently accused the previous Iranian government of "taking and consuming the oil." Rouhani also assured the Supreme Leader in a letter that he would "compensate for the existing shortcomings." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly increased his criticisms of Rouhani's government, especially with the presidential elections approaching in about two months. Recently, in response to the statistics presented by Rouhani, the Supreme Leader stated that "official statistics do not convince one that there is a general movement towards solving problems." On the same day, Mojtaba Zolnour, head of the parliamentary nuclear committee, expressed doubt about the economic statistics provided by Rouhani and implicitly urged the public not to vote for him in the upcoming presidential election. On the same day, Javad Karimi Qodosi, a hardline critic of the government, accused the President of lacking commitment to combating smuggling and of "underperforming" in this regard. In this context, Zolnour stated: "Rouhani has no grounds for gaining votes; people should vote for someone who has tasted poverty." Karimi Qodosi added: "The President does not believe in fighting against smuggling." Several Friday prayer leaders called for the election of a President "without any angle" with the Supreme Leader. Rouhani again criticized the previous government, stating: "They took and consumed the oil." Ahmadinejad attacked Rouhani and the principlists: "What are you that you do not accept the people's words?"