No such thing. Inflation reached some 30% under the previous administration, up from significantly lower levels.
And it's a fact well documented by economists, that most economic policies will show their impact after some time, usually a couple of years.
That the Rohani administration ruined the Iranian economy by putting all eggs into the JCPOA basket and having no plan B whatsoever is also well documented.
So this is neither an excuse nor a pretext but pure reality.
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution does not interfere in day to day governance. Not only can major economic decisions be taken without his approval, but plenty such decisions taken thus far have directly gone against his guidelines.
Only on major matters of national security could it be argued that the Leadership approval would be required.
In Iran there's neither stagflation, nor recession nor really an economic depression. As I highlighted, most macro-economic indicators are favorable.
Inflation is the single major issue Iran needs to tackle as we speak. In order to comment on the Ra'isi administration's policies, one needs to be aware of the domestic debate in this regard. There's a struggle going on right now between broadly speaking two schools of thought as to how to fix inflation. It's the outcome of this struggle at the level of ideas which will shape the administration's policies.
As for foreign policy being the paramount cause for Iran's economic challenges, I amply explained why this isn't the case. With the same foreign policy orientation, Iran has experienced periods of much lower inflation, so there's no causation here.
But more importantly, Iran did try to reduce tensions with western regimes under the previous administration. The result is before everyone's eyes: the west proved its genuine lack of interest in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement and began violating the terms of the deal right away in hopes of extorting further concessions from Iran. You keep ignoring this fact as if it never happened, and repeat the same thing over and over. Doesn't matter, facts are facts and I'll be reminding them as often as necessary.
In poverty. No need to appeal to people's emotions by introducing dramatic adjectives.
And that's 30,5%, period. For it to be considered more, evidence will have to produced.
1) The west is not interested in finding a balanced modus vivendi with Iran. Their preconditions for so-called normalization of bilateral ties were spelled out by Pompeo, and they amount to Iran abandoning her sovereignty as well as her means of deterrence against military aggression. What this would ultimately lead to, is illustrated by the example of Libya, where Gaddafi followed the very same path you're advocating. The rest is history.
2) Iranian assistance to the Palestinians serves Iran's own national security against a regime which never accepted Iran as a sovereign nation (see influence of zionist lobbies prior to the Islamic Revolution) and is bent on dismantling Iran along "ethno"-linguistic lines.
3) Investment in the nuclear field is a long term endeavour. As additional power plants come online, their share of national electricity production will increase. Moreover, nuclear science is not merely aimed at generating power, it is useful in multiple other areas of activity (agriculture, medicine etc) in which Iran has now achieved self-sufficiency rather than depending on the non-existing goodwill of foreign suppliers. Last but not least, the potential break-out capability it provides functions as shield against military aggression.
It is a perfectly well calculated, rational and necessary approach for reasons explained above as well as in my previous comment.
The lifestyle of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution is a markedly simple, down to earth one deprived of material luxury.
Also, the bulk of the Islamic Republic's support base consists of popular, working class individuals. It's one of the rare systems where the wealthier citizens are, the more they tend to identify with the enemy's culture and politics and will thus tend to oppose the very system in their own country, under which they rose to advantageous economic positions. A striking illustration thereof is furnished by show business figures (so-called "celebrities"), practically all of whom are both affluent and antagonistic towards the Islamic Revolution and the principles it embodies.
I replied to this at least thrice, wonder why I have to do so again.
Try paying attention this time around: Turkish, Saudi or Emirati proxies have never been anything but auxiliaries to NATO policy. Neither of these countries can make effective use of their proxies for goals running counter to zionist and NATO interests. In short they cannot mobilize them without the west's consent.
Also, Iran can neutralize the effects of sanctions through adequate economic policies.
Prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution Iran was conducting policies even friendlier than that vis à vis the zionist regime, by not just refraining from extending support to the Palestinian cause but by cooperating actively with Tel Aviv. The zionists however were not content with this. They had to encroach upon Iran's sovereignty by infiltrating key institutions including the security apparatus (SAVAK was partly set up by Mossad and Tel Aviv's men were placed at strategic positions in the agency) in order to influence Iranian decision-making.
So no, Isra"el" never accepted a sovereign, independent, powerful Iran. The Oded Yinon plan published in the early 1980's is explicit as to the goal of breaking apart nation-states of the region into smaller entities along "ethnic" and confessional lines.
If Iran was depriving that nation of its sovereignty and subjecting it to imperialist and neo-colonialist exploitation, I would understand it if people in that country reacted in such a manner.
This is a flawed line of thinking.
The very same could have been said about apartheid South Africa: a nuclear-armed regime with its own advanced defence industry, where the privileged minority was enjoying European- and North American-style living standards, which dominated its neighbors, and opposition to which consisted of strongly repressed movements from impoverished ghetto townships lacking the required prowess to defeat the regime militarily, aided by a minor party (the South African Communist Party) from the dominant minority.
And yet, their steadfast resistance proved instrumental in bringing down the apartheid regime when time was ripe. Likewise, the downfall of the zionist regime will not necessarily come about through military conquest. In the meantime however, continued resistance to its apartheid rule will be necessary to prevent it from strengthening and expanding its position.
1) As concerns the terms of a peace offer, there's a minimum threshold of acceptability for any party willing to safeguard its basic rights and its independence. Palestinian leaders could go for such skewed terms, but not only would their own people not forgive them, they would continue to live under oppression. If to you, living under the oppression of a colonial power is desirable then so be it, but do not expect others to share that standpoint.
2) Go tell that to those who fought apartheid in South Africa. Go tell that to zionists, who conclude from Jewish history that one must never give up no matter how terribly dire the odds may seem.
Iran's latent nuclear break-out capability, like it or not, is acting as a heavy deterrent factor. It has contributed to averting military aggression.
As for undeclared nuclear sites, look up what international contractual law actually stipulates: a nuclear site must only be declared to the IAEA a couple of weeks or months before being activated. Prior to that, there is zero obligation to declare it to anyone. You can legally construct a nuclear site and refrain from informing the IAEA. Thence, Iran hasn't violated any rule here, and therefore this cannot possibly serve as a valid pretext to single out Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
The share of nuclear energy can and will be raised with time. Iran's in no hurry about this. What matters is that the necessary technical know-how has been acquired.
To repeat, neither China nor India nor south Korea are located in the vicinity of a domineering regime whose lobbies largely determine American policy in the region, and which has no tolerance for truly powerful neighbors.
And to repeat as well, the impact of sanctions can be overcome through adequate policies.
The Majles Research Center is no authoritative source for economic data. The SCI and the CBI are the two institutions tasked with this function, and the only ones endowed with the appropriate means to conduct corresponding nationwide studies. So figures such as 55% can safely be laid to rest. Want to talk about facts, the fact is that official data for 1400 put the poverty rate at 30,5%, and this is the reliable figure to go by.
Foreign policy wise, poverty in 1977 stood at 46%, in spite of an oil boom four years earlier. This was under the Pahlavi regime whose relations with the west could not have been any closer.
Conversely, this is how the Islamic Republic, a government resisting zio-American imperialism, successfully reduced poverty:
Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.
www.macrotrends.net
In other words, the equation "relations with the west = economic prosperity" and "resisting zio-American imperialism = poverty and economic crisis" is decidedly inaccurate.
Poverty was reduced thrice under the Islamic Republic, and will be again.