Rouhani Tells Iranians Economy Can’t Grow With Nation Isolated

President Hassan Rouhani, whose government is striving to have international sanctions against Iran lifted, said the nation can’t achieve sustainable economic growth while living “in isolation.”

“Gone are the days when it was said if foreign investors come to Iran its independence will suffer,” Rouhani said in an address at a Tehran conference on sustainable growth and job creation yesterday. Opening up “doesn’t mean letting go of the nation’s ideals and principles,” he said, according to the state-run Fars news agency.