TEHRAN – First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said in remarks on Monday it will take time for economic efforts by the Rouhani administration to bear fruit, blaming years of mismanagement during the previous administration.

“What they did to the economy and people is not easily recoverable and they acknowledge it themselves,” Jahangiri said in an indirect reference to eight years the Ahmadinejad presidency, according to IRNA. 

In 2013, Rouhani promised millions of Iranians a better economic situation, seemingly so sure of how the nuclear deal he championed two years after could translate quickly into tangible economic gains. 

The pact, finalized in July 2015, awarded Tehran with relief from international sanctions in exchange for a curb on its nuclear program. 
However, things proved more challenging than thought.

“The wheels of economy have been hauled into a hole and it takes time to pull it out,” Jahangiri said, calling on the Iranians to be “patient.” 
After three years, still the economy is sluggish though soaring inflation rates, once more than 40 percent, have been reined in but at a stagnation price. 

As a matter of fact, damage caused by the previous administration is so massive to be undone over one four-year term. 

And better judgment can be made if Rouhani becomes president for a second term.  

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“What they did to the economy and people is not easily recoverable and they acknowledge it themselves.”