Iran’s supreme leader calls for domestic production, reduced reliance on dollar

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Friday that greater reliance on domestic production is the key to addressing the country's economic problems, calling for the gradual reduction of the dollar's prominent role in the economy.

In a message marking Iran's Government Week, Khamenei urged the government to pay "serious attention" to interconnected economic and livelihood challenges, including inflation, unemployment, price management, and the regulation of goods and services markets.

He also called for promoting economic growth, increasing investment and directing it toward useful and necessary sectors, stimulating production, and placing "resistance economy" policies at the center of the government's economic agenda.

"The main key to resolving all these issues lies in relying increasingly on domestic production," he said.

Khamenei, who took charge after the assassination of his father in US-Israeli strikes but has not been seen in public since, stressed that ensuring an adequate supply of essential and specialized goods remains necessary, saying imports should be used "properly and wisely" whenever domestic production is insufficient.

Encouraging production while managing imports and prices could gradually reduce the "dark spots" in Iran's economy until they disappear completely, he added.

The Iranian rial fell to a new all-time low against the US dollar, dropping past 2 million rials to $1 on the free market this week, as Washington launched further sanctions to strangle Iran's economy.