Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered all ministries and agencies to coordinate efforts in “neutralizing” US sanctions and defending the national currency.

In a meeting of the government economic coordination committee, Raisi also appointed his first vice president Mohammad Mokhber to head efforts in dealing with US sanctions, which have crippled Iran’s economy since 2018.

Facing unsurmountable difficulties in protecting the value of Iran’s currency the hardliner president also ordered the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and other agencies to confront those who “manufacture negative sentiment” against the rial.

The main reason behind a ninefold fall in the value of the rial in four years, is lack of revenues from oil exports, sanctioned by the Trump administration since 2018.

Raisi, who assumed office in August promising a new era of more effective leadership, has so far issued decrees asking his ministers to achieve goals that the previous government was not able to accomplish. Controlling the value of the national currency or skyrocketing inflation are two issues that Raisi and others address in their statements daily, without a viable plan emerging.

Tehran has been resisting efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement that would lift sanctions and provide a lifeline to its economy.