The president made the remarks in his statement to the cabinet session in reaction to some critics of the government who say sanctions against Iran are not something new, arguing that Iran has been under sanctions even during the past governments.

Rouhani drew line between the former sanctions and the current “Economic War”, saying, “Over the past several years, we were under sanctions, not economic war.”

He thanked the parliament for giving vote of confidence to the minister of industry, mine and trade.

The president said that he has issued an order in which he has mentioned the main four policies to be pursued by the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.

The first issue to be pursued by the Ministry is the surge in production, Rouhani said.

“In the manufacturing sector, our performance needs to be better than the previous years. In spite of the COVID-19 and the subsequent problems, the statistics from the first four or five months of the current Iranian year shows that we are witnessing a greater amount of production in comparison to the preceding period last year.”

The president said that the second duty of the Ministry of Industry is to help export commodities.

Iran provided most of its needed foreign currency by the exports of oil, condensates and gas over the past years, Rouhani said, however noting that the situation is not the same as before.

The president said that the third issue to be followed by the Ministry of Industry is providing fundamental commodities.

He added that the Ministry has to monitor supply and demand round-the-clock that what commodities are available in the market and what other commodities need extra supply.

Noting that the fourth duty of the Ministry is to conduct supervision on the market, Rouhani said that it is very important to check the balance in the market and operation of the customs office at war time.