Rouhani's Promise to Khamenei: Existing Shortcomings Will Be Addressed

Following continued criticisms from Ali Khamenei regarding the performance of the eleventh government, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, assured the Supreme Leader in a letter that he would address the "existing shortcomings." In his letter, published on Wednesday, April 2, on the official website of the presidency, Rouhani regarded Khamenei's emphasis on the continuous implementation of resistant economy policies as a source of encouragement and expressed gratitude. The Iranian President wrote that his government has a "deep" belief in resistant economy policies, which has resulted in a "significant growth in domestic production." Rouhani also mentioned that the increase of non-oil exports over imports and unprecedented job creation were other outcomes of the eleventh government's commitment to these policies. He expressed hope that with greater coordination in the "legal, cultural, and managerial space of the system," the "existing shortcomings" would be addressed this year. Rouhani noted that the first government session of the new year would be dedicated to national task division for a leap in domestic production and increasing employment. This letter comes after Khamenei's explicit criticism of some economic performances of Rouhani's government during his Nowruz message and a speech to a group of people in Mashhad. Khamenei also made explicit criticisms of the economic policies of the eleventh government during a meeting with members of the Assembly of Experts and repeated these criticisms on March 20 and 21. Rouhani defended his economic performance in his Nowruz message, but the Supreme Leader reiterated his criticisms the day after Rouhani's message at the shrine of the eighth Shiite Imam in Mashhad. In his Nowruz message, Rouhani defended his government's achievements in controlling inflation, economic growth, and employment in 2016, calling it "unprecedented compared to the past 25 years." In response to the statistics provided by Rouhani, Khamenei stated that "official statistics do not convince one that there is a general movement towards resolving problems." Khamenei has publicly increased his criticisms of Rouhani's government ahead of the presidential elections in Iran, which are about two months away. Rouhani has been trying to respond directly or indirectly to these criticisms since Khamenei's public remarks about his government's policies, particularly economic policies. Reports indicate that Rouhani intends to run for president again, and his letter to the Supreme Leader today may be a message aimed at gaining his trust. One of the main points of Khamenei's criticism of the eleventh government is its indifference or lack of attention to implementing the resistant economy policy, which First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has deemed "successful." Jahangiri reported yesterday that he presented a "resistant economy" report to Khamenei, stating that "this report indicates successes in the area of resistant economy."