President Rouhani speaking in southern province of Bushehr in Assaluyeh during opening ceremony of 15th and 16th phases of South Pars project on Monday, said the two phases had been the most ‘Iranian’ phases of the huge project. “Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters of the IRGC has done a great job in completing these two important phases and showed a harmony and cooperation between the government and other players,” Mr. Rouhani told the ceremony, turning to sanctions which he believed created a special conditions for his cabinet; “despite all difficulties, the cabinet is resolved on its premises made during election campaign and within few weeks, we will see the sanctions belt unraveling,” president added.
“I will speak to the nation in the day of JCPOA implementation and when sanctions are removed about the great achievement; our neighbors as well as the world should know that our nation is a great nation, passing through all difficult bottlenecks and finding the terra firma out of the stormy seas,” Rouhani emphasized. “The annual budget for the upcoming year will be presented to the Parliament amid plummeting oil prices and while all OPEC members face the difficulties of budget deficits; however, the budget will rely on the oil incomes only partially about 25 per cent.”
“I promise the nation that the upcoming year will be a year of economic boom; hopefully we will safely navigate through drought; the year will be annus mirabilis for the nation as it will have held two glorious elections with high turnouts,” Rouhani asserted. “The government has been living to its promises in opening political space for the election, and I am sure that the Guardian Council will also behave in the same manner to contribute to this political openness.”
Rouhani then sidetracked to political partisanship and extremism; “fostering political conflict would not contribute positively to political process; to make, to construct is important; however, it is easy to unravel what has been constructed, what has been done; to become united is difficult, but we should opt for this latter path to give hand to hand,” was his take in calling to political stability just less than two months to Parliament and Assembly of Expert elections.
He discouraged however political defamation and exercise of restraint and tact in avoiding making vilifications against political rivals during campaign; “prevarication would prove useful in advancing short-term objectives; however, it would be soon divulged, and with it, the fame of the prevaricators to nation would be totally discredited,” said the president.
Rouhani further criticized the media hype on air pollution in major cities few weeks ago; “the media had exploited all the opportunity to write about the air pollution. When pollution made difficult to breathe for people of Tehran and other cities, in other great cities such as Beijing, New Delhi and elsewhere the conditions was even worse; to have clean air should be a long-term commitment and in short-term, only tactical measures should be in agenda; however, all should cooperate; the government and the public as well should work in step-by-step basis to tackle the problem,” he concluded.
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