Iran's Rouhani defends economic record as tensions mount with Jordan

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani defended his economic record amid criticism from hardline cleric and rival Ebrahim Raisi ahead of next month's election.

Describing the press conference in Tehran on Monday as "not being about elections," Rouhani rejected criticism over his economic performance.

'The Syrian people and army must give a response that makes Americans regret their attack'

- President Hassan Rouhani

Speaking about improvements in agriculture, healthcare and internet coverage, he highlighted his key achievement: the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that ended some sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's atomic programme.

But Raisi, who is critical of the deal, said in a statement published by Iranian news agencies: "People are asking why despite all our resources and human talents ...our country is in this situation?"

Rouhani also slammed the United States for imposing sanctions on Iran and attacking an airbase in Syria, a key Iranian ally, following a suspected chemical attack last week. "The Syrian people and army must give a response that makes Americans regret their attack," he said.

During his first month in office, US President Donald Trump has imposed fresh sanctions, targeting Iran's ballistic missile program.

Rouhani said America had "never acted within international frameworks".

"One instance is the sanctions it has imposed on Iran, unreasonably seeing itself as the leader of the world," he said.

Rouhani versus Raisi?

Rouhani is expected to run for a second term in the election on 19 May, but faces stiff competition from Raisi, who has the support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

Many ordinary Iranians have lost faith in Rouhani as he has not been able to improve the economy, despite the lifting of sanctions in January last year.

But analysts say that Raisi, who is the former prosecutor-general, may struggle to gain recognition from voters. 

'People should speak out clearly about issues that are not being handled to their satisfaction'

- President Rouhani

Hopefuls in the election have from Tuesday until Saturday evening to register their candidacy.

Sitting presidents in Iran are expected to be modest about their ambitions and to refrain from using state television as a campaigning platform.

Rouhani said that his government had allowed social media platforms to stay online, despite objections from conservatives. "People should speak out clearly about issues that are not being handled to their satisfaction," he said. 

And he criticised the arrests of administrators of reformist social media channels in late March.

Jordan anger at Iran

Meawhile Jordan summoned Iran's ambassador at the weekend, after an Iranian official slammed comments by King Abdullah in an American newspaper as "silly and careless".

King Abdullah told the Washington Post in an interview published on Thursday that Iran was involved in "strategic problems" in the region.

"There is an attempt to forge a geographic link between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah/Lebanon," he said.

He added that Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops are within 70 kilometres of Jordan's border and that non-state actors approaching the frontier "are not going to be tolerated".

In a response published in Arabic by Iran's Fars news agency Sunday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said the Jordanian monarch showed "his ignorance and his superficial view of developments in the region".

Rouhani said Tehran was "ready to improve relations" with regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia providing Riyadh "stops its attacks on Yemen" where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The Sunni kingdom cut diplomatic ties with Shia-dominated Iran early last year after its missions were attacked in Tehran and Mashhad by protestors angered at Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.