Rouhani: Deal recognizes Iran’s nuclear rights

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls on negotiators to continue to resist excessive demands after striking deal in Geneva.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON, REUTERS
Rouhani talking to reporters 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Rouhani talking to reporters 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday the nuclear deal reached in Geneva was the basis for further progress, and the prayers of the Iranian nation had contributed towards its success.
“This can be the basis for further intelligent actions,” Khamenei wrote in a letter to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani published by the IRNA state news agency.
“Without a doubt the grace of God and the prayers of the Iranian nation were a factor in this success.”
Khamenei called the agreement “praiseworthy,” and called on the negotiators to continue to resist excessive demands, according to Iran’s Press TV.
Rouhani said on Sunday the deal reached with the P5+1 world powers “recognized Iran’s nuclear rights” by allowing it to continue to enrich uranium, and that Tehran’s enrichment activities would proceed similar to before.
Appearing live from the Iranian capital on Press TV, the president said talks on a “comprehensive agreement will start immediately.”
Rouhani also said the success of the talks so far was due to the “guidelines offered” by Khamenei.
“The enemy wanted to promote Iranophobia among the world public opinion,” Rouhani told reporters in Tehran on Sunday, according to the Fars News Agency.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the deal recognized Iran’s nuclear program and, in a final “step,” all sanctions on the Islamic Republic would be lifted.
Speaking on Iran’s Press TV, Zarif said the deal was an opportunity for the West to restore trust with the Iranian nation.
“In the final step, the [uranium] enrichment process will be accepted and at the same time all the sanctions will be lifted,” Zarif said, adding that Iranians sought to have the nuclear program carried out “free of international pressure.”
“Our nation has no trust in the American administration,” he said. “It’s now time for action. This is an opportunity for the West to make efforts to restore trust in the Iranian nation.”
Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a US think tank, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that the deal is indeed a victory for Iran, whereas the P5+1 “managed to seize a defeat from the jaws of victory.”
“It is a defeat of Western diplomacy because Iran was on the verge of economic collapse,” said Cohen, “and it was very close to doing what the West would have told it to do, abandoning its plans to enrich uranium, and dismantling the nuclear enrichment infrastructure, period.”
“This is exactly what the US did with North Korea when they did not insist on the dismantlement of their capacity,” he said, “and we ended up with a totalitarian communist regime with nuclear weapons.”
And now, North Korea is one of the main proliferators to Iran.
Cohen predicted that Iran may become the only Muslim nuclear power in the Middle East, which means that Israel needs to secure its second strike capability and make sure that its submarine fleet really works.