TEHRAN- A member of the Iranian Parliament’s Clergy Faction has underlined Iran’s need for having young and devoted managers to get rid of the current economic challenges facing the country. 

In remarks to Fars News, Javad Nikbeen drew a comparison between the economic woes and the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, saying that Iran needs young and revolutionary managers to overcome these woes as it did during the eight-year war. 

“We need young and revolutionary managers to get out of the current situation in the country, and just as we won the imposed war with the youth, we will succeed in the economic war with the youth today,” Nikbeen said, adding that the 13th government’s managers should be young, expert, and devoted to the Revolution.

The remarks come as Iranian President-elect Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi remains focused on the transition period for which he recently resigned from the Judiciary in a bid to put his energy and time into forming the next government.  Raisi’s government would be the 13th government of Iran. 

Iran’s presidential race was held on June 18 with four candidates on the ballot and led to the victory of Raisi. Shortly before the start of the voting, Zakani and Ghazizadeh-Hashemi withdrew from the race in favor of Raisi while Mehr-Alizadeh announced his withdrawal in tacit support for Hemmati, who represented the reformist and moderate political groups at the ballot box. Following the victory of Raisi, his rivals rushed to congratulate him on his success without casting any doubt on the election’s integrity, a move that was appreciated by Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a recent public appearance.  

Nikbeen said elder managers, whom he described as “tired generals and lobbyists,” are of no use to the country, and therefore, Iran is in need of young experts and motivated people. 

“Given the current situation, we need revolutionary action to improve the situation, and revolutionary action requires a revolutionary manager,” the cleric asserted.

He added, “The next managers of the government, far from different colors and factions, must be revolutionary managers at the level of the revolution, because only in this situation can we hope to improve the situation.”

Ayatollah Raisi has vowed to hire highly skilled, expert managers. He even asked the people to introduce the managers whom they think are talented and fit for managerial positions. to this end, the president-elect has established a website asking people to introduce such kind of managers. 

Drawing a comparison between the “economic war” and the Iran-Iraq war, Nikbeen said Iran won that war with young people aged between 22 and 32 and that “we can win the economic war with Hezbollah-styled youth aged between 32 and 42.”

Iranian officials often refer to the economic sanctions imposed by the former U.S. administration of Donald Trump as “economic war.” The U.S. imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Iran following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal - officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)- in May 2018. Trump piled up sanctions on Iran in a bid to force Iran into making more concessions to the U.S. within the framework of a new nuclear deal. Trump, however, failed to get his deal, bequeathing his successor a litany of unresolved issues with Iran.

The Biden administration has said it wants to open a new chapter with Iran and change tack, though it is yet to make any move to break with the Trump legacy on Iran.

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA have been negotiating since April to get the U.S. and Iran back to full compliance with the nuclear deal with now ultimate success. So far, six rounds of talks have been held with the seventh round expected to go ahead in the coming days. 

Diplomats from Iran and the U.S. as well as Europe are preparing for a potentially decisive round of talks in Vienna that is expected to result in a consensus to revive the JCPOA. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi, who leads the Iranian negotiating team in Vienna, said last week that the Vienna talks have almost reached their end and that the time has come for the negotiating parties to make decisions.

Speaking after a briefing session with lawmakers, Araqchi said, “So far, six rounds of talks have been held with the P4+1, and we are almost close to the final stages. There is a series of issues that have been sufficiently negotiated and it is time for the countries to decide.”

 The top Iranian nuclear negotiator added, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has already made tough decisions. When the United States withdrew from the JCPOA and Iran decided to stay in the JCPOA. It was Iran's big and difficult decision that led to the preservation of the JCPOA so far. Now it is the turn of the opposing parties, and according to the negotiations we had, they must decide and reach a conclusion on the revival of the JCPOA in order to reach an agreement.”

Iran has urged the U.S. to lift sanctions and provide guarantees that it will not renege again on its commitments under a revived JCPOA. However, the U.S. has refrained from giving such guarantees, arguing that no U.S. administration can give this kind of guarantee without submitting the final agreement to Congress for ratification as a treaty, something that is near to impossible given the fierce partisanship prevailing Capitol Hill.