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Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei called on Friday for the country to lean more heavily on domestic production to tackle a worsening economic crisis, urging a gradual reduction in the US dollar's role in the Iranian economy, as the national currency sank to a new historic low.
The remarks, issued in a message marking Iran's Government Week, came as the rial slid past 2 million to the dollar on the free market this week, a record low driven in part by fresh US sanctions aimed at squeezing the Iranian economy.
In his message, Khamenei pressed the government to give "serious attention" to a cluster of interlinked economic and livelihood problems, naming inflation, unemployment, price controls and the regulation of goods and services markets as priority areas.
"The main key to resolving all these issues lies in relying increasingly on domestic production," Khamenei said.
He also called for boosting economic growth and channeling greater investment into what he described as useful and necessary sectors, while pushing "resistance economy" policies, a longstanding Iranian strategy of insulating the domestic economy from foreign pressure and sanctions, to the center of the government's economic planning.
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Khamenei acknowledged that Iran still needs adequate supplies of essential and specialized goods, saying imports should be relied on "properly and wisely" in cases where domestic production falls short.
He said that a combination of expanded production, careful import management and price oversight could gradually shrink what he called the "dark spots" in Iran's economy until they disappear entirely.
The rial's drop below the 2-million-to-the-dollar threshold this week marks a new low for the currency, coming as Washington rolled out additional sanctions targeting Iran's economy.
The currency's decline has been a persistent feature of Iran's economy for years, driven by sanctions, inflation and limited access to international financial markets.
Khamenei took over as Supreme Leader after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in US-Israeli strikes. He has not appeared in public since assuming the role.
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