Iran MPs summon Rouhani as US pressure squeezes economy

LONDON — Iranian lawmakers have given President Hassan Rouhani one month to appear before parliament to answer questions on his government’s handling of Iran’s economic struggles, state media reported on Wednesday.

It is the first time parliament has summoned Rouhani, who is under pressure from hardline rivals to change his cabinet following a deterioration in relations with the United States and Iran’s growing economic difficulties.

Lawmakers want to question Rouhani on topics including the rial’s decline, which has lost more than half its value since April, weak economic growth and rising unemployment, according to semi-official ISNA news agency.

Rouhani, a pragmatist who reduced tensions with the West by striking a nuclear deal in 2015, is facing a growing backlash since US President Donald Trump pulled out from the pact in May and said he will re-impose sanctions that seek to throttle Iran’s economy, including its lifeblood oil exports.

ISNA said lawmakers also want to Rouhani to explain why, more than two years after the landmark deal, Iranian banks still have only limited access to global financial services. 

The nuclear accord curbed Iran’s nuclear programme in return for lifting most international sanctions. 

Rouhani’s summon coincides with further shows of a public discontent. A number of protests have broken out in Iran since the beginning of the year over high prices, water shortage, power cuts and alleged corruption in the Islamic Republic.

On Tuesday, hundreds of people rallied in cities across the country, including Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz and Ahvaz, in protest against high inflation caused in part by the weak rial.

Trump said on Monday he would be willing to meet Rouhani without preconditions to discuss how to improve relations, but senior Iranian officials and military commanders rejected the offer as worthless and “a dream”.