SUMMARY:International attention to President Rouhanis speech on State TV on Tuesday night is likely to focus on the issues of Syria and Irans nuclear program; however, the most significant messages may have been on the economy.Rouhani gave a gloomy overview of Irans economic situation at the close of the Ahmadinejad Government, highlighting negative growth with both recession and inflation. He criticized the outgoing Governments budget for spending far beyond revenue, heavily dependent on Irans falling oil exports, and he spoke about the problem of excessive liquidity in the committee.
Rouhani did not promise immediate solutions. Instead, he said his Government would move quickly with committees to evaluate problems, including in Irans oil and gas industry and in the agricultural sector, and asked for the publics support.
Speaking about Syria,President Rouhani welcomed the Russian proposalfor the Assad to give up its chemical weapons stocks in return for a suspension of US airstrikes.
Rouhani also wanted to ensure that the Syrian crisis does not derail discussions on Irans nuclear program, with a view to confirming Tehrans sovereignty over uranium enrichment.
The President said Iran is ready for serious talks with the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) on the basis of mutual respect and trust within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The last set of talks were in April, with no movement towards a resolution on the Islamic Republics enrichment on 20% uranium in return for a lifting of US-led sanctions. The two sides were expected to resume negotiations this autumn, but the escalation of the Syrian conflict has raised a question mark over this.
Rouhani said that an agreement on the nuclear issue must be win-win, and he cautioned that the time for a settlement is not unlimited.
Tehran has scheduled another round of discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency on September 27, trying to reach agreement on inspection and supervision of Irans nuclear facilities.
Russia Not Negotiating Delivery Of S-300VM To Tehran
Russias Interfax news agencyon Wednesday citeda diplomatic-military source familiar with the situation as saying that Russia is not negotiating the delivery to Iran of a newS-300VM Antey-2500?anti-ballistic missile system.
Delivery of the Antey-2500 systems to Iran cannot be excluded in the long term, but at the moment, Russian special exporters are not conducting any pre-contract work on this issue, the source said.
The source was commenting on recent media reports that the Russian authorities allegedly took a decision to supply five S-300VM Antey-2500 systems to Iran in exchange for Tehran withdrawing a $4 bln lawsuit against the Rosoboronexport company for failure to supply five five battalions of S-300PMU1, at a value of $800 million, under a previous contract.
Central Bank: Economy Shrank 5.4% in 2012-2013, Inflation at 44%
The Central Bank has confirmed that the Iranian economycontracted by 5.4%from March 2012 to March 2013, according to Minister of Economy Ali Tayyebnia.
President Rouhanis deputy for planning, Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht, added that the Bank put the inflation rate at 44%.
By EA WorldView
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