IRAN’S president said on Saturday that his country needs the equivalent of £76 billion in foreign investment to achieve an annual target of 8 per cent economic growth, up from the current rate of 4 per cent.

The remarks by Masoud Pezeshkian, who was elected in July, came in his first live televised interview by state TV.

President Pezeshkian said that Iran needs up to £190bn to reach its goal but more than half is available from domestic resources. Experts say growth in GDP of 8 per cent would reduce double-digit inflation and unemployment rates.

Hundreds of entities and people in Iran — from the central bank and government officials to drone producers and money exchangers — are already under international sanctions, many of them accused of materially supporting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and as well as groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Mr Pezeshkian in his interview complained about the sanctions and said his administration plans to reduce inflation, which is running at more than 40 per cent annually, “if we solve our problems with neighbours and the world.”

The president confirmed that his first visit abroad will be to neighbouring Iraq and he would then fly to New York to attend the United Nations general assembly meeting on September 22-23. 

He said that while he was in New York he would meet with Iranian expatriates to invite them to invest in Iran. 

Out of more than 8 million Iranian expatriates, 1.5 million live in the United States.

President Pezeshkian was sworn in last month and parliament approved his cabinet earlier in August, promising a softer tone both inside and outside the country. 

His predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in a helicopter crash in May, along with seven other people, including the country’s foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in what was described as a “technical failure.” Such failures are themselves often down to sanctions, which make it hard to maintain and repair aircraft.