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In a speech delivered on November 27, 2019, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the fuel hike that sparked riots in Iran were agreed upon in a meeting between President Rouhani, the Interior Minister and the country's Security Council. Rouhani said that he gave instructions for the fuel hikes but instructed them to leave him out of the loop. He added that he did not even know what day the plan was supposed to be implemented and heard about it just like the rest of the Iranian people on that Friday. Rouhani's speech was delivered at a project dedication in East Azerbaijan Province and aired on IRINN TV (Iran).
Hassan Rouhani: About a month ago, I entrusted the entire matter [of the fuel price hike] to the Interior Minister and the country’s Security Council. I summoned them and said: This is our confirmed plan. They knew about it. We met as the heads of the three branches of government. We discussed [the plan] and confirmed it. I said to them: “With regard to the implementation, coordinate the media aspect with the broadcasting authority, and keep me out of this. Implement [the plan] whenever you, at the country’s Security Council, see fit.” On the night that it was implemented, I didn’t even know whether it would be that week or the following week, because I had asked them not to inform me.
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I am just like you. I saw on Friday morning that the price had changed. This is because I had entrusted the country’s Security Council with this matter and said to them: “You don’t need to update me on this. Go ahead, make your plans, but the price and everything has already been confirmed in the forum of the heads of the three branches of government.”
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