AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Iran's President said that the people of Iran have created many points in history by their presence, adding, "On February 21, people should make another point in history”.
Speaking on Wednesday at the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, President Hassan Rouhani said, "To resolve people’s problems, we must all be together and in doing so, the government and the parliament can cooperate with each other”.
Parts of President Hassan Rouhani’s speech are as follows:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
We are approaching an important historic day for our country. Our dear, great people have created many points in history by their presence in different junctures.
Since the beginning of the current [Iranian] year when many problems were created by the floods in most of our provinces, people’s all-our presence did something that people could go back to their lives and houses in a short time, and the government pledged to compensate for the damages made.
In November when the enemies wanted to take advantage of the incidents, people came on stage and displayed a lasting manifestation of their unity, integrity and national security, which began from Zanjan and Tabriz.
Of course, when we talk about Tabriz, we should mention the events that happened on February 18, 1978, which was a very important one. Those who remember the revolution know well that the uprising of the people of Tabriz on this day broke the back of the then regime and created a huge hope in the entire country.
It was clear for everyone that in a movement that the people of Azerbaijan and Tabriz created, our victory was definite. After February 18, 1978, all those who were responsible for political and social calculations knew that this uprising was the end of the regime, and in less than a year in February 11 of the next year, our revolution became victorious.
In addition to people’s presence in November, it was the martyrdom of our dear general Martyr Soleimani that people did an astonishing thing and left the entire world and the region in awe and nobody thought that the relationship between the people and the armed forces are this much close.
Nobody knew that the fight against terrorism is this much important for the Iranian people, and nobody thought that the security of the Middle East and our neighbours is this much important for this people.
In fact, Martyr Soleimani was the symbol of fighting terrorism and protecting stability and security in the region and our national security, and people’s presence showed that the all of what the Americans thought about the Iranian nation was in fact a miscalculation.
Those days, people’s presence in Iraq and the entire Iran, the symbol of which was Khuzestan, Mashhad, Tehran, Qom and Kerman, everyone took to the streets and this shows how loyal these people are.
Where in the world can you find this many people take to the streets for the funeral of a devoted soldier? I believe that those days became the historic days in our Islamic Iran’s history.
After that, the February 11 demonstrations, I saw people more motivated this year and this is very important to note that 41 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the same motivation was seen in people as the first anniversary in 1980.
The other day that people should make epic is February 21 at the ballot box. The noble people of Iran need to differentiate between some points; one is that we go to the ballot box to choose the best for the Islamic Consultative Assembly, which is a very important body.
The Islamic Consultative Assembly is where the regulations are approved, government’s bills are sent and ministers get vote of confidence. They in fact oversee the executive body of the country.
Essentially, the Islamic Consultative Assembly in Iran is a powerful parliament. The authorities of the Majlis in other countries are different, and they have a great position in Iran, and this was because Imam Khomeini had a special attention to the Majlis.
One side of the story is that the Majlis is very important for our future and no one must say that I do not care about who goes to the parliament because my friends’ eligibility has not been approved.
This Majlis is going to pass legislations for us and this legislation is for all of us and affects our lives and our children’s lives. Sometimes, some legislations stand for long years, a decade, two decades or even a century.
Therefore, the parliament is important for us, in addition to the fact that we have important issues in the country and we are under severe sanctions of the Global Arrogance. Should we break the sanctions or not? Who should do this? The government or the Judiciary cannot do this alone; we need to stand together and the parliament and the government should do it together.
If we are to alleviate people’s economic problems and lift sanctions, we have to do this with our full power. If production is to increase and we are to become self-sufficient in many fields, what should we do? The solution is for the government and Majlis to cooperate with each other. Today, in economic issues, we need to cooperate with any parliament, be it our current Majlis or the next one.
If we want to accelerate our production, we need legislations in some cases where we cannot do anything without the law and legislations. If we want to take steps in the path of science and knowledge, we must cooperate with each other.
If a part of the country needs to become a free zone or industrial zone, or if a province or county wants to be included in these zones, it all needs cooperation between the government and the parliament.
The parliament has the right to set laws and regulations and we must be together to solve these issues –issues we have today in our society, like corruption, and people are worried about them, and they are right to-. Basically, our revolution happened because people wanted to see justice and morality prevail in the society.
The ultimate goal for all of us must be the realisation of a society in which justice is served. We passed important bills for transparency, fighting corruption and conflict of interests to the parliament, which we should approve. Some of them may be approved in the current Majlis, and some others be left for the next one. So we all need to work together on the issue.
The other issue is breaking Iran’s boycott and sanctions, which is the most important responsibility for all of us. Sanctions are a terrorist act by the United States against the Iranian nation and nobody can say that sanctions have no effect. Saying that sanctions do not have any effects means supporting the US.
If one says sanctions do not work, it means they are supporting the US and says America has done nothing wrong and has done a good job, and that sanctions have no impact on our lives.
This is both false and untrue, and it is in support of America. Unless we know the pain, we cannot know the treatment. For example, if someone's hand hurts, we cannot treat his foot. We need to know where the pain is and treat it there.
Sanctions are America’s terrorist act against the great Iranian nation. Now, a group is ruling the country that had hostilities towards Iran from the past. The Israelis and the region's reactionaries supported them and put this pressure on the Iranian people. What should we do to counter this pressure?
To say that we cannot break the sanctions is incorrect. How could we break the sanctions in 2013 and 2015? The fact that our oil exports rose to almost 3 million barrels from 900k was because we broke the sanctions.
We managed to get credit with all the big eastern and western banks and in one case, we got $5 billion from one country, and all companies were lined up to invest in Iran.
The fact that the UN sanctions were lifted, that our great problem with the IAEA was resolved and today, despite all US efforts, they are still incapable before the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The fact that an international court is votes against the United States and tells the US that their sanctions are illegal indicates that the deal is still alive. The fact that the United States is doing its utmost in the Board of Governors to condemn us but cannot do anything means that the agreement is still alive.
The fact that they are already afraid of what the situation will be months later means the deal is alive. The fact that the United States failed to act politically and legally in the United Nations, the General Assembly, and the Security Council after it withdrew from the agreement, and that they failed in the Board of Governors, shows that our nation has the potential to do this.
So we have broken the sanctions once and if we did not do anything, one would say we are unable to counteract a mistake that the US has made, but of course, we can make the US regret about their mistake. Once, we took them to the negotiation table despite their wish and they signed the document that they did not want. We have to do this again.
How should we take them to the negotiation table? We have to exercise unity and power. We must prove to the Americans that we are powerful and capable. We have to show them that we are a nation that has the highest patience.
If we exercise the utmost patience, the Americans have no choice but to surrender. The fact that the US has sent dozens of messages to us for negotiation in the past one year, and that we have no doubt that when I was in New York, I received at least 5-6 messages for negotiation with the US, means the we are powerful and patient.
If the Americans claim that Iran has failed, they why are they insisting this much on negotiating? Why are you sending messages with world leaders?
It is clear that our people have the power to break the sanctions. Our unity, integrity and production are clear in the field of industry and agriculture, which show marvellous figures.
Look at the figures in the recent months, compared to previous years. If you compare the car manufacturing figures, which our people have some problems with, the manufacturing has increased by 100 to 140 per cent.
Therefore, we have stood bravely against the US to become victorious. Now if we want to stand against the US, one chance is February 21 elections. We must all go to the ballot box.
It is not acceptable for someone to say I could not find a single right candidate in Tehran. Anyone who goes to the parliament from any faction is the representative of our Majlis.
Those who enter the Majlis are our representatives. Based on the constitution, the person who enters the parliament is responsible towards the entire Iranian nation, not only his or her constituency.
Nobody can do anything to the detriment of the national interest, be it the government, the Majlis, or the judiciary. Everyone must act based on Article 40 of the constitution.
What people want from us is synergy. The people want the government and the parliament to resolve economic, social, foreign policy and foreign trade, and banking issues together.
The day the US becomes disappointed about the policies of maximum pressure, they will surrender and have no choice but to accept the right.
They assassinated our major commander in a cowardly act, how did the US respond? Both House of Representatives and the Senate limited President’s authorities for war with Iran. Why did they do that? Because of Martyr Soleimani’s assassination.
The fact that you see Both House of Representatives and the Senate vote for limiting the authorities of the US President, the White House and the Pentagon is because they saw that they did something wrong.
The fact is that if they wanted to resolve an issue in the region through cooperating and consulting a figure like Martyr Soleimani, but today, they have to sit with 20 people. Has this made things easier for you? This harmed the security of the Americans in the region and your soldiers have more fears today.
Therefore, we must be able to achieve victory against the US with our resistance and power. We must know that our presence and long lines at February 21 elections will infuriate the US.
Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
........................................
End/ 257
source : President.ir
Wednesday
19 February 2020
12:52:25 PM
1011674
Pres. Rouhani: Martyr Soleimani was symbol of fighting terrorism, protecting stability in region
Iran's President said that the people of Iran have created many points in history by their presence, adding, "On February 21, people should make another point in history”.