Senior cleric says Iran missed many opportunities waiting for JCPOA benefits

“Our serious economic problems are not resulted from the sanctions, but they are a result of lack of paying attention to the Leader’s directives for more than 10 years. He (the Leader) has addressed the economic issues in various occasions as it is a priority for the deprived people. He has repeatedly warned against reliance on oil sale and foreigners as a serious threat, but our officials have often disregarded them, and at the same time, they have been waiting for the JCPOA idly and did not do much inside [the country] in the face of foreign pressures,” said Hojjat-ol-Islam Kazem Sedighi during this week’s Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, adding through patience, the people can overcome their economic hardships.

Sedighi lambasted the people who refuse to supply goods to the market causing inflation and economic problems for the country, saying that the martyrs who donated their blood for the country will not forgive all those who deny the people access to the basic goods.

Meanwhile, he said that the authorities and the people need to know the enemy better, saying “we have a very vicious and cruel enemy who wants to completely destroy our trenches …”

Tehran's provisional Friday prayers imam further warned that the enemy has been trying hard to infiltrate into the governing bodies of the country to destroy the Islamic establishment from inside, adding thay seek to frustrate the people.

Sedighi pointed to Iran’s defensive missile program, saying that the missiles are for defensive purposes, quoting the Leader of the Islamic Republic as saying that Iran will respond to any single missile fired from the Israeli regime by 10 missiles.

Elsewhere in his speech, he put the blame on mismanagement and internal problems for the economic hardships, criticizing the authorities for not paying enough attention the Leader’s guidance on the economy.

Tehran's provisional Friday prayers imam also pointed to the good performance of the national Iranian football team, calling on the government officials to rely more on internal resources.

He called on the authorities not to compromise with the foreign powers anymore, stressing that they should apologies for not listening to Leader’s directives.

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