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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that oil and natural gas alone are not sufficient for development, noting that Türkiye has a better living standard than Iran despite its lack of oil and gas.
"Türkiye has no oil and gas. Japan and Korea don't either. They buy oil but have a better standard of living than us," Pezeshkian said during a meeting with activists, intellectuals and scientists in Urmia, northwest of Iran.
"We have oil and gas, but we are hungry, we are in trouble. The problem is with us," he stated.
"How is it that we both sell oil and gas and our people have difficulty in making a living? The fault is ours," Pezeshkiannoted.
Pezeshkian emphasized the need to reduce the Iranian economy's dependence on oil.
"This country has managed and earned money until today. We compensated for our shortcomings and inadequacies by selling gasoline, oil and gas," Pezeshkian said.
The president also addressed the need to regulate fuel prices, but said a hasty decision cannot be made.
"There is no doubt that the price of gasoline needs to be increased," he said, adding, "Why should a liter of gasoline be 1,500 tomans? Even water is not at this price."
"However, intervening in the price of gasoline is not easy," Pezeshkian said, concluding with, "Thousands of variables need to be taken into account, planning needs to be done and solutions need to be produced."
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