Under the title "Rouhani Admits: Iran's Government Concealed Part of the Truth from the People," the Al Arabiya website reported that in his last meeting with his government before handing over the presidency to the elected president Ebrahim Raisi, outgoing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged that his government made "mistakes" and failed to end sanctions, emphasizing that the government concealed part of the truth from the public. On Sunday, he said, "During certain periods, we withheld some details out of fear that it would affect national unity." The outgoing president continued: "Our performance was not without errors, and we apologize to the citizens." He added, "We could have lifted the sanctions considering the conditions set by the Supreme Leader, but other matters and circumstances prevented us from achieving that."
It is worth noting that the president-elect from the June elections, Ebrahim Raisi, will officially take office this week as the President of Iran, succeeding Hassan Rouhani, to begin a four-year term facing the challenges of addressing the economic crisis, U.S. sanctions, and negotiations over the nuclear agreement. The inauguration ceremony for Raisi is scheduled to take place next Thursday, August 5, in front of the Shura Council (parliament), which is dominated by conservatives, followed by the submission of his ministerial candidates for parliamentary approval. The former head of the judiciary received about 62% of the votes in the first round of the elections, which he ran without any serious competitors, with a voter turnout of 48.8%, the lowest in a presidential election since the establishment of the Iranian Republic in 1979.
