Will Iran’s Rouhani survive the bleak economy?
AFP, Tehran :
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is credited with pulling the economy back from the brink, but less than two months before his re-election bid, has he done enough to convince voters?
“This year was full of stress-no jobs, recession, a stagnant housing market,” said Ali Bakhtiyari, a jeweller in the Tajrish bazaar of northern Tehran.
Business has been slow, he said, even during last week’s run-up to Nowruz, the Persian new year.
“The government is trying to unlock things, but four years have passed. The locks should have been opened by now,” he told AFP.
Such sentiments are heard everywhere on the Iranian street, and weigh heavy on Rouhani’s bid for re-election in May.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has also been sharply critical of the government’s economic performance.
“What has been done is far from the expectations of the people and the supreme leader,” Khamenei said in his Nowruz address, focusing particularly on the unemployment rate which stands at 12 percent, and at over a quarter for young people.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is credited with pulling the economy back from the brink, but less than two months before his re-election bid, has he done enough to convince voters?
“This year was full of stress-no jobs, recession, a stagnant housing market,” said Ali Bakhtiyari, a jeweller in the Tajrish bazaar of northern Tehran.
Business has been slow, he said, even during last week’s run-up to Nowruz, the Persian new year.
“The government is trying to unlock things, but four years have passed. The locks should have been opened by now,” he told AFP.
Such sentiments are heard everywhere on the Iranian street, and weigh heavy on Rouhani’s bid for re-election in May.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has also been sharply critical of the government’s economic performance.
“What has been done is far from the expectations of the people and the supreme leader,” Khamenei said in his Nowruz address, focusing particularly on the unemployment rate which stands at 12 percent, and at over a quarter for young people.
