Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri urged parliament to discuss the country’s worsening economic conditions and defend President Hassan Rouhani’s government, accusing the US administration of “conspiring” against his country by launching an “economic war.” Deputy parliament Speaker Masoud Pezeshkian called for the formation of a crisis cell to tackle the economic crisis, while prominent cleric Hossein Nouri Hamdani described the situation as “regrettable.” Jahangiri called on internal parties, officials and people to unite and support the Iranian government against the “American economic war.” He said that his country is facing a new situation, attributing the anger expressed by some officials and public circles against deteriorating economic conditions to a lack of overall transparency between the government, parliament and people. Before opening a closed-door session on price rises, Jahangiri stated that the US is looking to pressure Iran back to the negotiating table through economic pressure. Moreover, he underlined to lawmakers the need to reshuffle the cabinet and establish new ministries capable of confronting the challenges facing the country. The Iranian currency continued on Sunday its months-long downward trajectory. Lawmaker and member of the parliament’s budget committee Shahbaz Hassanpour told the ISNA news agency that Jahangiri gave a detailed explanation of government measures addressing rises in prices. He noted that the Vice President assured attendees about economic and living concerns, saying that the government “has undertaken solutions to meet peoples needs.” “The current situation, particularly on the economic level, requires more coordination among parties,” state news agencies quoted parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as saying. He stressed that in addition to the US agenda, “internal problems have partly caused bad conditions.” Meetings are ongoing to discuss proposals to reform the economic situation, he said.