TEHRAN— Iran's ultraconservative President Ebrahim
Raisi said Saturday his government will priorities tackling COVID and
accelerating vaccinations ahead of an economic revival, as he defended his
cabinet choices before parliament.
اضافة اعلان
The conservative-dominated parliament began debating the
male-only, largely conservative lineup, ahead of a vote of confidence expected
by Wednesday.
"The government's first priority is controlling the
coronavirus, improving the health situation and widespread vaccination,"
Raisi said.
"The economy and the livelihood situation is the
second" priority, he added, noting that his lineup is meant to bring about
"justice and progress".
Some lawmakers during Saturday's session criticized the
president for a failure thus far of his economic team to present policy plans,
but Raisi said a detailed strategy will be released "soon".
Since late June, Iran has seen what officials have called a
"fifth wave" of COVID-19 infections, the country's worst yet, which
they have largely blamed on the more contagious Delta variant of the virus.
Daily infections and deaths have hit record highs several
times this month, raising total cases since the pandemic started to over 4.5
million and fatalities to more than 100,000.
Battling the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak,
the country launched a vaccination drive in February but it has progressed
slower than authorities had hoped.
'Knowledge and experience'
Choked by US sanctions that have made it difficult to
transfer money abroad, Iran says it has struggled to import vaccines.
Raisi has tapped 63-year-old optometrist Bahram Eynollahi as
his health minister.
He defended his pick as "a figure who can rally forces
in the fight against coronavirus".
Eynollahi was named by local media as a signatory of a
January open letter that warned former president Hassan Rouhani against
importing vaccines made by the United States, Britain, and France, as they may
cause "unknown and irreversible complications".
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had in the same
month banned the use of vaccines made by the US and Britain, calling them
"completely untrustworthy".
More than 16.3 million people out of the country's 83
million inhabitants have been given a first vaccine dose, but only 5.4 million
have received the second, the health ministry said Friday.
The president also on Saturday defended his foreign ministry
pick, the conservative Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, as a "well-known"
figure with the required "knowledge and experience".
He is seen by local media as an establishment figure with
close ties to Iran's regional allies.
Raisi on Saturday said his foreign policy will expand
"neighborly ties" and prioritize the economy.
Iran and world powers are trying to revive a 2015 nuclear
deal, which was torpedoed by the administration of former US president Donald
Trump, who withdrew and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
Six rounds of nuclear talks were held in Vienna between
April and June in an attempt to revive the accord.
The last round concluded on
June 20, with no date set for another.
Raisi made no mention of the nuclear talks or neighboring
Afghanistan, where the Taliban are consolidating power after seizing Kabul
nearly a week ago.
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