Iran needs $100 billion in foreign investments to hit economic growth targets, says Iran’s president

Iran's president said Saturday that his country needs about $100 billion in foreign investment to reach the annual target of 8 per cent economic growth from the current 4 per cent.

These comments by Masoud Pezeshkian came during his first live televised interview that was broadcast by state television after he was elected in July.

Pezeshkian said Iran needs up to $250 billion to reach its goal, and more than half of the funding for that amount is available from domestic resources. Experts say growth in GDP of 8 per cent would reduce double-digit rates of inflation and unemployment.

Already, hundreds of entities and individuals, including Iran's central bank, government officials, drone makers and money changers, face international sanctions; most stand accused of materially aiding Iran's Revolutionary Guard and foreign militant groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

During his interview, Pezeshkian complained about the sanctions and said his administration plans to reduce inflation — it is running at more than 40 per cent annually — "if we solve our problems with neighbours and the world." He did not elaborate.

At a news conference, Pezeshkian confirmed that his first foreign travel would be to neighbouring Iraq, and then he would fly to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Sept. 22-23. He said that while he was in New York, he would meet with Iranian expatriates to invite them to invest in Iran. Out of more than 8 million Iranian expatriates, some 1.5 million Iranians live in the United States.

Pezeshkian, considered a reformist, was sworn in last month; parliament approved his cabinet earlier this August and promised a softer tone both inside and outside of the country. His predecessor, hard-line protege of Iran's supreme leader Ebrahim Raisi, who oversaw uranium enrichment in the country to near-Weapons-grade levels, died in a helicopter crash in May, along with seven other people.

Iran's economy has been under pressure since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal designed to straitjacket Tehran's nuclear program and reimposed hard-hitting sanctions. Pezeshkian said in his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.