The Iranian president made the remarks at a meeting held Sunday morning to appreciate the efforts made by him and his administrations in the last 8 years.
President Ahmadinejad pointed to the increase in the purchasing power of the Iranian nation, and said, “According to the purchasing power parity index, people’s income increased by more than $3,000 and production has also been revived.”
“Iran’s economy has become bigger and more powerful today, fluctuations (in prices and economic conditions) are more tolerable now and harsh sanctions have been harnessed, while we believe harsher sanctions can also be harnessed,” he added.
Iran is ranked among the 15 major mineral rich countries and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries, including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan, the report says.
The country with roughly one percent of the world's population holds more than seven percent of the total mineral reserves of the globe.
It lies on 37 billion tons of proven reserves and holds more than 57 billion tons of potential reserves of some 68 types of minerals, including chrome, coal, copper, gold, iron, lead, tin and zinc.
Iran has the world's largest zinc and second largest copper deposits and ranks ninth in iron.
