Hemati: Head of Judiciary Still Performing His Duties While I Was Removed

The former governor of Iran’s Central Bank, criticizing his dismissal during the presidential election campaigns, stated: “The head of the judiciary is still performing his duties” but “I was removed from my position a month ago”.

Abdolnasser Hemati, speaking at a gathering with members of his election headquarters staff, also complained about the lack of support from government officials and said: “I will never forget the wrongs that the government committed against me”.

He also alluded to the election debates, saying that during the elections he became “a victim of the government’s weak performance” and “I can never recall a government treating one of its members, who has served so much, in this manner”.

This 1400 presidential candidate also complained about senior reformist figures and said he could not understand the reasons for their “non-participation” and lack of support for him.

Mr. Hemati, who managed to secure 2,427,201 votes in the elections, was dismissed from the position of governor of Iran’s Central Bank on June 30 by Hassan Rouhani’s order.

According to Mr. Hemati, Hassan Rouhani emphasized that his participation in the election campaigns could “affect the country’s monetary and banking system” and he had to leave the Central Bank.

In the presidential elections, Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the judiciary, was also a candidate and was introduced as the election winner, but he has not resigned from his position, which has sparked criticism.

Ebrahim Raisi presented his performance report as head of the judiciary in a meeting on Monday, the 7th of Tir, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and the Supreme Leader described his record as “good and jihadi”.

Mr. Hemati, who now teaches as an economics professor at Tehran University, said that after his defeat in the presidential election, he “will not be sidelined and will have an active presence”.

He, who had no particular political background before the elections and is not a member of any active political party in Iran, did not explain how he will continue his political activities.

Hemati’s Forecast for Iran’s Economy in 1400

Abdolnasser Hemati also presented a report on Iran’s economic situation in 1400 and stated that the foreign exchange revenues that were expected to be realized in the first three to four months of the year “did not happen at all” and government officials “are still drawing salaries from the Central Bank to pay current expenses”.

He said the current government faces “400 to 500 thousand billion tomans budget deficit” and has not yet been able to “sell a significant amount of bonds and stocks” and described the situation as concerning.

According to the former governor of Iran’s Central Bank, in the past ten years, investment growth in Iran’s economy has been negative and “nowhere in the world is it like this”.

Mr. Hemati, without referring to a specific country, said that in the economic sphere “our peer countries have significantly surpassed us” and also expressed concern about Ebrahim Raisi’s economic team’s approach.

Hemati replaced Valiollah Seif as governor of Iran’s Central Bank in August 2018. During his tenure as governor of the Central Bank, the dollar price tripled, rising from 11,000 tomans to over 34,000 tomans, and the Central Bank’s policies regarding the distribution of government-allocated foreign exchange at 4,200 tomans sparked serious criticism.

Nevertheless, Mr. Hemati says he had a successful performance at the Central Bank and prevented the dollar rate from reaching 50,000 tomans and Iran from becoming another Venezuela.

Source: Radio Farda