Rouhani: Resistance underlying Iran’s economy in coming years

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani underlined the advantages of Iran’s plans to institutionalize resistance economy in the country, and said the same policy will underlie Iran's economic structure in coming years. “The resistance economy determines the direction of Iran’s economy in the coming years,” Rouhani told reporters on the sidelines of the 15th meeting of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran on Tuesday. “We should start a new move and effort within the framework of the general policies of the resistance economy because resistance economy strengthens the bases of the country’s economy so much that it can continue its path under different conditions and ill-wishers won't be able to create any problem,” he added. In a decree issued on February 19, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei outlined the general policies of the country’s “resistance economy,” under which, the government must take action to expand the production and exportation of knowledge-based products, increase domestic production of strategic goods, and develop markets in neighboring countries. It also encourages greater privatization and increased exports of electricity, gas, petrochemicals, and oil byproducts instead of crude oil and other raw materials. In a meeting with Iranian laborers in April 2013, the Supreme Leader described the constant change of economic policies, reliance on inexpert opinions, and trust in the imposed economic theories of the West and the East as harmful.