TEHRAN — Speaking to the people of Iran on televised program on Monday night, presidential contender Saeed Jalili said that every village could be a big part of Iran’s development.

“Today, 25% of our population lives in villages, and as far as I know, every village can be a “cell” of progress for the development of the country. If we solve the problems of 40,000 villages in the country, we will see that each village can be the leap cell of the country, and this problem will be solved through planning and management,” he stated. 

Jalili went on to say that those in charge should not allow an individual or a group to gain money from the pockets of the people. 

“This issue requires serious determination and will, and one must first start from the faction of friends and insiders in order to stand against it,” he remarked. 

Pointing to the rising inflation rate in the country, the presidential candidate said that the average inflation in many countries is below 5%, “but our country has experienced 50% inflation. Solving this problem requires will and planning; it should be noted who will benefit from this inflation and why only a certain and limited number of people have benefited from heavy banking facilities.” 

Regarding nuclear negotiations, Jalili said that if Iran is going to negotiate with the West, it must have tools to use as bargaining chip. 

“We must not behave in such a way that the pressure lever is in the hands of the enemy and we are in a difficult situation. One way to lift sanctions is to negotiate, but that is not all we can do,” opined Jalili who was Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator during the rule of the previous administration. 

Presenting an alternative to the current nuclear negotiations in Vienna, Jalili said Iran must enter into negotiations with tools of pressure “so that the enemy cannot use the levers of pressure against us. For example, if it wants to boycott us with petrol, there are several things that can be done. One way is to negotiate and make concessions to dissuade the enemy. The second way is to circumvent the sanctions and the enemy does not understand, but the best and most useful way is to produce petrol and even export it so that the lever of pressure is removed from the hands of the enemy.”

Jalili reminded the voters that his programs are not written overnight because he formed a shadow cabinet after losing the 2013 presidential election to the incumbent president, Hassan Rouhani. 

“In 2013, after the election of president Rouhani, I said in my election campaign that our work started today and we formed a shadow cabinet and followed the developments bit by bit. If good work is done, even from competitors, we should approve and encourage it; if help is needed in a time, we should enter and help; and if something goes wrong, we should come and correct it,” he suggested.