Iran’s president says his country needs more than $100 billion in foreign investment

TEHRAN, Iran -- TEHRAN, Iran (AP) —

Iran’s president said Saturday his country needs some $100 billion in foreign investment to achieve an annual target of 8% economic growth up from the current rate of 4%.

The remarks by Masoud Pezeshkian, who was elected in July, came in his first live televised interview by state TV.

Pezeshkian said Iran needs up to $250 billion to reach its goal but more than half is available from domestic resources. Experts say growth in GDP of 8% would reduce double-digit inflation and unemployment rates.

Hundreds of entities and people in Iran — from the central bank and government officials to drone producers and money exchangers — are already under international sanctions, many of them accused of materially supporting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and foreign militant groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Pezeshkian in his interview complained about the sanctions and said his administration plans to reduce inflation, which is running at more than 40% annually, “if we solve our problems with neighbors and the world.” He did not elaborate.

Pezeshkian confirmed that his first visit abroad will be to neighboring Iraq and he would then fly to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Sept. 22-23. He said 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 Iranian live in the United States.

Pezeshkian, who is viewed as a reformist, was sworn in last month and parliament approved his cabinet earlier in August, promising a softer tone both inside and outside the country. His predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protege of Iran's supreme leader who led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels, died in a helicopter crash in May, along with seven other people.

Iran’s economy has struggled since 2018 after then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal to constrain Tehran's nuclear program and imposed more sanctions. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.