In a televised New Year address to the Iranian nation in the first minutes of year 1398, President Rouhani listed the achievements and problems that people faced last year, and named the New Year as the year of new decisions, national integrity and more effort.

In the message that was broadcasted on TV, Dr Hassan Rouhani stressed, “Do not doubt that we will overcome all issues and achieve victory through more efforts”.
“The basis of disorder and our problems is enemies, entering our country from outside the borders,” he continued.
The President also went on to say, “Today, we are in a battlefield, in which all people should participate in, absence of even one person can incur losses”.
He also described New Year as the year of harnessing inflation, making exchange rates balanced, and more friendship with all neighbours and said, “The government will announce its new programmes in the first days of the New Year”.
“Nowruz means greenness, freshness and leaving the hard days of winter behind, and entering the atmosphere of spring and moderation,” he said.
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran also went on to say, “Last year was the year of victory against terrorism, the year of victory of the Iranian nation at international organisations and the international court, the year of resistance of the people of Iran and glorious points in history such as February 11”.
“Anti-Iranians thought that they could reach all their goals on November 4, celebrating their victory in Iran on February 11. But all of these days were the days of our victory and the enemies’ failure,” said the President.
Dr Rouhani also emphasised, “Paying attention to less important instead of more important issues is the gravest strategic mistake in life”.
Stating that knowing where the enemy is, is very important in the battlefield, he said, “When the enemy is before us, if we attack right or left, we have indeed inflicted losses on our own forces”.
We all must feel responsible, said Rouhani, adding, “The government, other branches, the armed forces, universities, academia, farmers, workers, producers, and people from all walks of life must feel responsible in these conditions”.
“Someone might ask until when these problems and sanctions will be there? I would like to tell the great Iranian nation that problems have started by the enemies and those who have recently come to power in Washington, but the end is at our hands,” added the President.
He added, “The enemy thought that the entire world and its allies would stand by it in these sanctions, but we saw that all countries, except for a few countries, stood by the Iranian nation”.
“Great people of Iran! We have not started this; we are a great nation who have been loyal to our promises and adhered to our vows. Those who broke their promise, showed their true identity”.
Stating that “New Year is the year of new decisions, more integrity and effort,” he said, “Last year, I visited 10 provinces and I saw people’s passion, vigilance and awareness in all visits”.
He also said, “I am happy that among 12 foreign visits that I had last year, my first visits started with neighbours: from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, and my last visits ended with neighbours as well: Russia and Iraq”.
“Wherever I went as the representative of the great Iranian nation, we saw respect from the side of their people and authorities. This means that those who imposed sanctions on us failed”.
At the end of his message, Dr Rouhani said, “Oh the Almighty, keep our minds and tongues away from violence, division and fault-finding”.