TEHRAN – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has once again chosen a name of economic nature for the Iranian New Year, building on a decades-long tradition of laying out the general path of the country in the year ahead. 

Over the last decade, the Leader successfully shielded the country’s economy from severe Western sanctions by putting the limelight on certain sectors that play a pivotal role in sustaining and boosting the economy. And the result was a sheer success. Over the past 10 years, Iran has largely been under tough Western sanctions except for the brief period from 2016 to 2018, when a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers brought about a fleeting sanctions relief. Despite all pressures and sanctions, Iran’s economy not only didn’t collapse but made great progress in many vital sectors. 

Thanks to the Leader’s emphasis on the economy, Iran successfully managed to weather the economic storms caused by U.S. sanctions. This was partly because the Leader accurately realized which front needs more attention and effort. At the beginning of every Iranian new year, Ayatollah Khamenei chooses a slogan that serves as a guiding principle for all state institutions, especially those involved in achieving economic growth and development. 

In his latest new year speech, Ayatollah Khamenei expressed satisfaction with the work done in line with last year’s slogan.

“For the year 1400 SH, I chose the slogan ‘Production: Support and the Elimination of Obstacles.’ Good work was done toward that end and continues to be done, and this must be done. In recent years, I have focused on ‘production’ for the slogan of the year, accompanied by certain descriptive terms. The reason is that production is the key to solving the economic problems of the country. National production is indeed the main path that needs to be taken for moving past the economic hardships and difficulties that exist in the country. In other words, the most important economic issues of the country can be resolved by boosting and improving national production. This is the nature of production,” the Leader said on March 20, 2022, according to khamenei.ir.

The last Iranian calendar year -1400 - ended on March 20. 
“That is why we have placed great emphasis on production; because it boosts economic growth, it creates employment, it reduces inflation, it increases per capita income and it improves public welfare. Furthermore, it also brings about psychological effects since it boosts national self-confidence and creates a sense of dignity in the nation. Production is such an elixir. National production is this important if it is carried out in the best possible way, God willing,” The Leader added, 

He noted, “That is why I have stressed the importance of production in recent years. And this emphasis was effective. Praise God, it has had good results. I wish to highlight production this year too, but with a new added layer and a new aspect. I wish to emphasize a production that has two characteristics: one is that it should create jobs and the other is that it should be knowledge-based. We must encourage knowledge-based production–one that is reliant on new scientific advances–and a production that generates employment. Of course, all kinds of production generate employment. But some kinds of production do not create much employment despite the fact that they require a huge investment while other kinds of production create abundant employment opportunities.”

He said, “If we make knowledge-based production the main criterion, and if we pursue the kind of production that is knowledge-based with the characteristics that I will mention in my New Year’s speech, I believe we will witness tangible progress and a good move forward in achieving all of our economic goals. The same is true of production that creates jobs. Therefore, this year’s slogan is ‘Production: Knowledge-Based and Job-Creating’.”  

The designation of the Ney Year as one of knowledge-based production comes as Iran continues to reach economic milestones despite U.S. sanctions being in place. Iran’s Oil Minister, Javad Oji, has announced that the country’s crude oil production has reached the pre-sanction level. The rise in Iran’s oil production bears witness to another point that the Leader has been emphasizing over the last few years: Neutralizing the sanctions. 

At the same time as designating the new year as one of knowledge-based production, Iran was able to defeat the sanctions by relying on its internal capabilities. The oil minister’s announcement regarding the increase in oil production is a good case in point. 

Recently, President Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi highlighted the rise in oil exports as an achievement for his administration. In a meeting with a group of scholars and clerics of Khorasan Razavi province, the president said, “The country was in a situation where some said in meetings that if anyone can sell 200,000 barrels of oil, we will make him Minister of Oil, but today the conditions for selling oil are not comparable to the past, there is a significant increase and oil money returns to the country.”

He added, “The volume of the country's non-oil foreign trade reached $100 billion last year, part of which was due to increased interaction and use of neighbors' capacity. Some thought that only 3-4 countries in the world have this capacity, and the connection with the world can be summarized only in these few countries, but this is not the case. Neighbors have often gone unnoticed, based on the fact that after my visit to Tajikistan, our trade with the country quadrupled.”

In the same meeting, Raisi said Iran achieved a 4-percent economic growth in the last Iranian calendar year. “We are planning for a growth of 8 percent for the year 1401,” Raisi said.