TEHRAN – Iranian President Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi has returned to the capital Tehran from a Friday visit to the central province of Yazd. 

It was the twelfth provincial visit since Ayatollah Raisi took office in August. Since then, the president has paid visits to a number of provinces on Friday which is a weekend holiday in Iran’s national calendar. 

Upon arrival at Yazd Airport on Friday morning, Ayatollah Raisi was received by the governor-general and senior local officials. Ayatollah Raisi was accompanied on this trip by his chief of staff, the vice-president for executive affairs and the ministers of the interior, roads and urban development, sports and youth, and energy.

Speaking on Friday morning at Yazd airport during the twelfth provincial trip, Ayatollah Raisi said, “Yazd is a province with a lot of potentials and hardworking people whose contentment is one of their main characteristics,” according to the official website of the Iranian presidency.

Pointing out that the province's potentials must be revitalized according to the plans made by the governor-general and managers of the province, as well as cabinet members, he said, “Good work is being done in the province today, but there is still room for what needs to be done.”

The president apologized the people of the province for not being able to meet with them in a face-to-face manner because of COVID-19 conditions, he said, “Despite this, we will attend the meetings of managers and representatives of different groups of people to find out and be informed of their views and opinions, and we will hear suggestions and solutions that are proposed to solve the problems, and we will follow them.”

During the trip, Ayatollah Raisi visited Khoshris Spinning Factory, which has been closed for eight years. Criticizing the closure of the production unit, he said, “This factory should be activated as soon as possible with diligence and hard work.”

Ayatollah Raisi also visited Yazd's Electro Kavir Factory. He said, “This factory is an example of neutralizing sanctions, and it turns out that in the face of sanctions that want to prevent us from accessing technology, it has been able to provide superior quality switchboards with its efforts.”

The factory is one of the successful examples of producing domestic products that designs and manufactures various types of industrial electrical panels in the country and exports them to all parts of the world.

The president also visited one of the workshops for the recovery of historical monuments in the city. He described the people of Yazd as good people and said, “Iranians living abroad are as eager to help the cultural heritage as they were interested in helping the country in healthcare.”

Ayatollah Raisi added, “The best way to restore traditional and old monuments is to restore them with the help of the people themselves.”
Ayatollah Raisi visited the Fahraj Solar Power Plant and was informed about the plan to generate electricity from solar energy. 

Emphasizing the government's support for the development of clean energy in the country, the President said, “By increasing and developing solar energy production farms, part of the country's energy needs should be met in this way.”

Ayatollah Raisi pointed out, “Yazd province is a suitable area for the development of solar energy farms due to sufficient light.”

The president instructed the Minister of Energy and the Governor-General of Yazd, “Develop this successful work to meet the country's need for energy in this way.”

Ayatollah Raisi visited the historical neighborhood of Yazd and the Old Bazaar of the city and talked with some shop owners and people.

During the visit, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and experts on historical monuments called for the facilitation of the process of the restoration of historical sites in order to increase the participation of the people and the private sector in this matter. Ayatollah Raisi also appeared at the Old Bazaar of Yazd and met with some shop owners and people.

On Friday evening, the president met with a group of benefactors of Yazd province. During this meeting, Ayatollah Raisi said, “It is an opportunity for you benefactors who use the opportunities and blessings that God has given you in the path of the pleasure of the Almighty.”

Emphasizing the importance of helping people and paying attention to solving their problems, the president stated, “The way to reach God is to serve God's people. Those who can afford it should try to solve others' problems.”

Ayatollah Raisi said, “We must solve problems together. Wherever people were present and their power and services were used, great success was achieved.”

The president met with representatives of different groups of the people of Yazd. During this meeting, Ayatollah Raisi said, “The developments of the province should be according to the culture, customs and originality that Yazd has and that originality should not be lost.”

Ayatollah Raisi described the development as a necessity for Yazd and added, “The people of Yazd have a strong will for progress with strong faith, and today the axis of effort, activity, entrepreneurship, investment and development measures anywhere in the world is with a cultural view based on strong faith.”

Ayatollah Raisi praised the great scholars of the province. He said, “The people of Yazd have learnt their hard work, efforts and production from their religion.”

“The reputation of the characteristics of the people of Yazd has gone beyond the province and the borders of the country and if someone has the characteristics of hard work and contentment, he will attribute it to Yazd culture,” he said.

The president stated, “The solution of the problems mentioned by some dear people here is achievable and the spirit of creativity and initiative of the young Yazdi people during the Holy Defense is a proof of that.”

The president said, “The work of the government and the administrative apparatus must have an appendix for eliminating deprivation and, more importantly, must be based on justice.”

The President emphasized, “Our decisions must be fair and aimed at eliminating poverty, especially absolute poverty.”

Referring to a visit to a solar energy farm, Ayatollah Raisi said, “Using new and clean energy is a necessity and Yazd can be the center of solar energy production in the country and the region.”

Referring to Yazd's potentials in the field of historical, cultural and health tourism, the president said, “Good infrastructure has been created in Yazd, including in the field of tourism, which needs to be completed, and part of my visit today was to develop tourism.”

Referring to Yazd's potentials to benefit from the tourism economy, digital economy, mining economy and agricultural economy, Ayatollah Raisi said, “Good work has been done in various fields, but according to the potentials, more work needs to be done.”

Ayatollah Raisi also took part in a meeting of the Administrative Council of Yazd Province. During this meeting, he said, “Yazd is one of the busiest provinces in the country and more attention should be paid to the issues and problems of transportation activists.”

Ayatollah Raisi emphasized, “We hope that all the half-finished projects will be completed with funding, but in the current situation, we must focus on priorities. Among the priorities is the existing but idle or semi-active capacity that should be activated in the path of production and employment.”

The president instructed the Governor-General of Yazd to form a working group to activate semi-active workshops in the province with the cooperation of the Vice-President for Executive Affairs and Minister Industry, Mines and Trade to cover all areas of the province.

Referring to the government's plan to delegate more powers to the provinces, Ayatollah Raisi said, “In this regard, a fund for progress and justice will be formed in each province to help provincial officials in organizing semi-finished projects and creating jobs and helping production units.”

Referring to the large number of immigrants in Yazd province, Ayatollah Raisi stressed the need to pay attention and organize immigrants and said, “Immigrants are the guests of the Islamic Republic, but we must define a position in the administrative organization that can pursue their affairs more efficiently.”

In another part of his speech, the President referred to the tourism capacities of Yazd and said, “Measures have been taken to use this capacity, but it has not been commensurate with the capacities of the province, and we hope that by the end of COVID-19, the tourism sector will become more active.”