Hassan Rohani described a nation crippled by inflation and unemployment and spurned by the outside world.
He said: “The inflation rate in Iran is above 40 percent and with food stuffs above 58 percent. This is while the inflation rate in Saudi Arabia is under 3 percent.
“There are more than 41,000 industrial units left incomplete, and with economic instability throughout the country, people continuously doubt that things will change. The conditions are so bad that the economic regulations changes 40 to 50 times a month.
“There are currently 3.5 million unemployed and every year, 900,000 graduated students finish school and join the unemployed population.
“The number of allies of the Iranian regime in the international arena is less than the fingers of one hand, and those countries also lack an international reputation.”
The secretary of the regime’s Expediency Council and former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaii added: “Corruption, bribery and segregation has increased among different provinces and the value of the national currency has collapsed.
“Our rockets can go several thousand kilometers, but we are unable to provide chicken for the people. We face problems in providing people’s basic necessities.
“Instead of hiding the realities, we must let people see them. We have to reduce the lack of balance between security and defense spending and people’s lives and economy.”