Rouhani: Malicious Actors Plundered the Nation's Wealth Under the Pretext of Evading Sanctions

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, emphasized that the continuation of Western banking sanctions would have taken Iran back to '60 years ago', stating that 'malicious actors plundered the nation's wealth under the pretext of evading sanctions'. According to the state news agency IRNA, Mr. Rouhani pointed out the impact of Western sanctions against Iranian banks, saying: 'We were going back to about 50-60 years ago, we went to currency exchange and sought cash in suitcases.' On Saturday, February 13, at the 55th annual meeting of the Central Bank, he stressed that 'malicious actors in the difficult conditions of sanctions plundered this nation's wealth under the pretext of evading sanctions.' According to the Vienna nuclear agreement, Western sanctions against Iran were lifted in exchange for limiting the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Among the consequences of the sanctions was the disconnection from the SWIFT system, which made it impossible for Iran to transfer its oil revenue through the international banking network or conduct other banking transactions. The secure international system, or SWIFT, is used for exchanging financial messages between banks. In this context, Nasser Hakimi, the Director General of Information Technology at the Central Bank of Iran, announced on February 1 that nine Iranian banks had rejoined the SWIFT network. 'Some benefited materially from the existence of sanctions,' Mr. Rouhani said in another part of his speech, adding that if someone is not happy about the lifting of Western sanctions against Iran, one should 'doubt their Iranian identity'. He continued: 'Is it possible for a patriotic Iranian... not to be happy about the lifting of sanctions? Of course, there were some who benefited materially from the existence of sanctions.' The Iranian President had previously stated that 'sanction brokers' should 'think of another job'. He also emphasized in August 2014 that some 'under the name of evading sanctions, sold oil to certain people and took it away, deceiving the Iranian nation.' In recent months, several appointees of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, have criticized the contracts signed between Iran and Western countries, accusing Hassan Rouhani's government of using the assets gained from the lifting of sanctions for importing consumer goods and opening the way for Western 'influence' in Iran. For instance, Kazem Sedighi, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, criticized the contracts signed during the Iranian President's visit to France, stating that 'sanctions were a blessing that we did not appreciate.' Previously, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the head of the Basij Organization, referred to the events of Mr. Rouhani's visit to France and Italy as 'a dagger in the heart of the resistance economy' and stated that 'Western intelligence agencies have spent money to publicize' the news of signing a contract for the sale of more than 100 Airbus passenger planes to Iran. In response, Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Hassan Rouhani, described these remarks as 'an injustice to the resistance economy and leadership.' 'Resistance economy' is a term used by the Supreme Leader and his close associates to describe an economy that is independent of foreign countries. According to IRNA, Mr. Rouhani also stated: 'I have no doubt... the success that our people achieved was under the grace of God.' Meanwhile, the Tasnim news agency quoted Mr. Rouhani as saying, 'They say with the JCPOA the government should bring prosperity to the nation, did we bring the JCPOA? We are the servants of the people, God brought the JCPOA.' However, this part of Mr. Rouhani's remarks was removed from the Iranian presidency's website a few hours after the news was published. In this context, sanctions have 'damaged the Iranian industry by $190 million daily.' The lifting of sanctions and 'increased influence and power of the Revolutionary Guards.' Khamenei's response to Rouhani: 'We paid heavy costs in this deal.' Rouhani, referring to the implementation of the JCPOA: 'We are the only exceptional case in the world.' Rouhani: 'A new chapter in our relations with the world has opened.' The President of Iran: 'Sanctions will be lifted in December.' Hassan Rouhani: 'Iran's sanctions will be lifted by the end of 2015.' Hassan Rouhani: 'The economic situation will change completely next year.' Hassan Rouhani: 'There is no prohibition on the presence of American companies in Iran.' Nihavandian: 'An additional $100 billion cost imposed as a result of sanctions.'