"Republishing Ayatollah Khamenei's handwriting confirms Rouhani's remarks"

The website of former President Hassan Rouhani's office wrote:

Following the publication of the text of the speeches of Iranian President Sheikh Hassan Rouhani in the eleventh and twelfth terms at the editorial meeting of the Iran newspaper (Tuesday, March 19, 2025), a picture of the Supreme Leader's handwriting on the decision of the heads of the three branches regarding the fuel consumption management plan in November 2019 was republished.

In this note, which was written on October 8, 2019, one month before the implementation of this plan, the Ayatollah addressed Dr. Rouhani and emphasized: "Clauses A and B of the reform of the prices of energy carriers are related to the honorable officials of the three branches themselves, and I have no opinion on it because of my different opinions. I will defer the decision on paragraph C to the unanimous agreement of the honorable heads of the three branches. The issue of structural reform of the budget should not be overshadowed and the rest of its clauses should be pursued separately."

This handwriting of Ayatollah Khamenei confirms the words of Sheikh Hassan Rouhani, who emphasized that the increase in the price of gasoline "has the approval of the heads of the three branches."

On November 17, 2019, at the beginning of the lecture on Islamic jurisprudence, Ayatollah Khamenei said: "In the past day or two, an incident occurred following the decision of the heads of state and the heads of the armed forces... I said, "I am not an expert, but if the heads of the three branches decide, I will support it." Finally, when a decision is made by the heads of the three branches, it is not a question of the government, it is not a matter of a ministry, the heads of the three branches of the country sit down and make a decision, and it relies on the support of experts."

On the same day, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the Judiciary at the time, issued a five-point statement to the judiciary regarding the implementation of the fuel consumption management plan and the issues surrounding it, in which it was emphasized: "The proposal of the honorable government to implement the rationing plan and announce the new price of gasoline, based on legal obligations, was presented and approved in order to create coordination in the Economic Council of the Heads of the Armed Forces."

Ali Larijani, the speaker of parliament at the time, also stated at a press conference, "The government could have done this according to the law of targeting subsidies, but due to the country's conditions and sensitivities, it consulted with us. The proposal was the government's duty, but since the gentleman had asked us to consult, it was consulted, they discussed, and some of the price was changed, however, this plan was the government's proposal, but at the meeting of the heads of the armed forces, it was decided that all sources of income should be given to the people." (10/12/2019)

On November 23, 2019, the Prosecutor General's Office denied the statements of an informed source about the Head of the Judiciary's opposition to the proposed rate of the President at the time, and announced: "If this informed source had access to the minutes of the meeting dated July 7, 2019, which was prepared by the Office of the President, he would not have published such false news." It also did not have gasoline.