Iran International
Iran's hardliners say the impasse in nuclear talks results from President Joe Biden's “weakness”, not its demand for delisting the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
Recent commentaries in hardline media reflect growing concerns among hardliners that Iranians would blame the IRGC for the failure to secure a deal to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement, and the lifting of sanctions, which increasingly impose hardships on ordinary people.
An unattributed commentary Wednesday in Tasnim news agency which is linked to the IRGC clearly indicated that Iran wants the IRGC to be removed from the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) but claimed that this was the only "one of the remaining issues" on which the US side had to make a final decision.
The commentary accused the US negotiators of trying to exaggerate the importance of delisting of the IRGC to divert Iranian public opinion from the "real matter of contention".
"Limiting the causes of the halt in the talks to the removal of the IRGC from the FTO is the US negotiating team's psychological operation to put pressure on decision-making entities in our country," Tasnim wrote. The real issue, it said, is "Iran benefiting economically from a deal" if sanctions on "effectual individuals, entities, and companies in [Washington's] red list" are lifted.
The IRGC was designated under Donald Trump in April 2019. This was the first time that the US put another country's military on its terror list.
The government mouthpiece, Iran newspaper, also ran a commentary Wednesday in which it argued, indirectly, that the IRGC was not to blame for the continuation of sanctions that many Iranians see as a major contributor to their economic hardships.
"The main issue [preventing a deal] is the US administration's lack of confidence in making important decisions", the commentary entitled "Biden's Weak Administration the Main Cause of Not Reaching an Agreement in Vienna" said, conspicuously failing to mention the IRGC's name even once.
Instead, the writer of the commentary, Mehdi Poursafa, who often contributes to IRGC-linked media outlets such as Javan newspaper and Fars news agency, accused the Biden administration of lacking courage to bypass the opposition from the "Zionist regime and the Israeli-Arab lobby in Washington" despite having "the required political capacity to approve an agreement with Iran".
Poursafa opined that the Biden administration would not make a deal before the November Congressional elections. "But Iran can't remain indifferent to this matter. Tehran surely does not want to pay the price for the domestic problems of the Biden administration and will make its next move based on the US administration's behavior and commensurate to its own national interests," he said.
The Biden administration has come under pressure not only from Republicans, but also from some key Democrats who insist that the IRGC should remain of the FTO list. So far 49 Republican Senators have called on Biden not to make concessions to Iran.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin who was one of the four Democrats to vote against the Iran nuclear deal under Barack Obama in 2015 in a letter to the Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tuesday said he supported Biden's 'diplomacy' with Iran but warned that sanctions should remain in place until Iran demonstrates "verifiable efforts towards curbing their malign influence".
The statement by Gholamreza Nouri, a conservative parliament (Majles) member means that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had issued the authorization to hold direct talks with the United States in Vienna, but others, most likely ultraconservative Paydari party elements such as former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili who are believed to have Iran’s current chief negotiator Ali Bagheri under their influence prevented the move.
Nouri characterized those elements as "a few loud individuals" who have used their influence to derail the negotiations.
The statement was made on the same day that a hardliner political figure close to Paydari, who accompanies Iranian negotiators, Mohammad Marandi, accused US President Joe Biden of not being courageous enough to make a deal and being pressured by Congress not to give any concessions to Iran.
Despite promises made by President Ebrahim Raisi during his election campaign, nine months after he took office, the negotiations have remained inconclusive for various reasons including Russia’s shifting position after the invasion of Ukraine.
During a meeting with Iranian journalists on April 10, Raisi said his government follows the Supreme Leader's strategy about the nuclear talks," meaning that he does not have a plan of its own about furthering the negotiations.
Nouri expressed hope that the government would try to get results from the negotiations so that it can solve the country's economic problems by having US sanctions lifted. He reminded Raisi that during his election campaign he had promised to prevent the nuclear talks from becoming a "negotiation of attrition."
He also urged the government to start direct talks with the United States as the main party to the nuclear deal because others who are acting as mediators pursue their own interests rather than the interests of Tehran or Washington.
On the opposite end of the political spectrum, in an interview with Didban Iran website, another lawmaker, Ali Asghar Annabestani charged that Iranian negotiators in Vienna have violated the red lines defined by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Annabestani, who is close to Paydari Party, said: "We told Raisi to seek guarantees from Americans and verify the US side's fulfilment of its commitments before signing any agreement. But based on evidence at the disposal of the parliament, he has already accepted matters that are not in the country's interests."
"In a letter we sent to Raisi, we called on him to pay attention to the Supreme Leader's directives before it is too late," Anabestani said, referring to a letter signed by more than 250 lawmakers earlier this week.
However, Annabestani insisted that the parliament needs guarantees from the United States: "What if after we sign an agreement, the United States refuses to lift the sanctions and release Iran's frozen assets?" He said, adding that Washington should give guarantees that would be acceptable for Iran.
The hardliner lawmaker added that because of the war in Ukraine, the United States needs an agreement more than Iran. So, the negotiators should patiently continue the talks and refuse to sign anything before they get the necessary guarantees from the United States.
Both these lawmakers are in the same “priniciplist” political camp as Raisi. This means that opposition to the government policies and performance are on the rise even among the president's political allies.