Khamenei Says Iran’s Nuclear Infrastructure Cannot Be Negotiated
A deal with West can be accepted if it does not impact Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Islamic Republic’s 84-year-old authoritarian ruler Ali Khamenei said Sunday.
A deal with West can be accepted if it does not impact Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Islamic Republic’s 84-year-old authoritarian ruler Ali Khamenei said Sunday.
Khamenei who was addressing a group of Iranian nuclear scientists and officials in Tehran also claimed that Iran will not opt for nuclear weapons simply because of Islamic principles, “otherwise, they could not have prevented us.”
Tehran’s nuclear program, which has almost reached the threshold of weaponization, is quite controversial among Iranians, with many blaming the resulting sanctions for ruining the economy and impoverishing tens of millions of people.
Apparently, cognizant of the is fact, Khamenei said, “If you want a powerful Iran, all those who love Iran and the Islamic Republic, everyone who loves the nation and aspires for the power of this country, should regard this nuclear scientific, research and industrial effort as important.”
His use of nationalist slogans was clearly meant to garner some support among the population, with what is seen as a small minority of loyalists supporting the regime.
Iran’s nuclear program once again became a highly controversial international issue when former US President withdrew from the 2015 JCPOA accord, demanding a tougher agreement and a change of behavior by Iran that was fomenting trouble across the Middle East.
President Joe Biden quickly signaled his intention to return to the JCPOA, but Iran that had reacted relatively cautiously to Trump’s move, began to up the ante in December 2020, by passing a law to increase uranium enrichment first to 20 and then to 60-percent purity by early 2021.
Western officials and experts say that there is no justifiable civilian use for 60-percent enriched uranium. The only likely purpose is to purify uranium to 90 percent needed for assembling a bomb.
Negotiations that began in April of that year to revive the JCPOA came to an impasse in 2022, and Iran continued to accumulate enriched uranium. American officials believe that Tehran would be able to weaponize in just a few months if it decides to go nuclear.
In the light of recent reports about secret talks to reach some sort of a limited deal, whereby Iran would cap its uranium enrichment, Khamenei said, “It is possible that they [the West] would want to reach an agreement in some areas, but the nuclear infrastructure should not be affected.”
Iran has deployed thousands of advanced enrichment machines known as centrifuges in the past two years that can turn out enough 90-percent purified fissile material for a bomb in just two weeks. Even an agreement to freeze enrichment now, would leave Iran in the advantageous position of remaining at the nuclear threshold.
Any limited agreement, which the US has denied, would most likely leave these centrifuges in place.
Despite Washington’s denials there are signs of some steps signaling attempts to somewhat reduce the extent of disagreement.
Reports on Saturday indicated that the Biden administration has allowed Iraq to make available $2.7 billion of Iranian funds blocked in Iraqi banks due to US sanctions. This is so far the largest tranche of money Washington has allowed to be released, although it has been suspicious of Iranian machinations in Iraq to launder money.
Khamenei also reiterated his long-held position that the West and UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cannot be trusted.
Any negotiation or nuclear agreement should receive Khamenei’s approval, since he has the final say in all important political, military and economic issues, as the Supreme Leader.
On the other hand, reformist clerics suggested that the government had better stop putting religious pressure on citizens to “guide them to heaven.”
The Imam in Tehran, Mohamad-Javad Haj-Aliakbari, said that "the enemy" is spreading nihilism in Iran, adding that "In a year when we are getting close to the Majles [parliament] and Assembly of Experts elections, the enemy is trying to sow despair and heresy in Iran."
The term enemy, regularly used by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his loyalists, refers to the United States. By making this statement the Friday Imam was attributing Iranian women's defiance to compulsory hijab to a conspiracy by the United States.
Iranian clerics and regime officials invariably attribute their failures in various cultural, political and economic areas to the United States or the pre-revolution government that was replaced by the Islamic Republic 44 years ago.
The Tehran Imam said the West is waging a cultural onslaught against Iran to stop the country's progress in areas such as missile development. Meanwhile he accused Iranian women of not being chaste enough as they follow the West's teachings.
In another development Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday Prayers Imam of Mashad said: "The Islamic revolution's aim was not simply feeding the people and improving the economy. We did not simply want to give political control to the pious and expel US mercenaries from Iran. The aim was to allow the people to live freely."
However, Alamolhoda. a staunch supporter of compulsory hijab and one of the biggest defenders of clerical rule in Iran did not explain how the Islamic Republic or his own ideology would let people live freely. Meanwhile he praised the Islamic Republic's "achievement" in developing a “supersonic missile” that can reach Israel in less than 10 minutes.
Alamolhoda is the father-in-law of President Ebrahim Raisi and enjoys some influence with Khamenei.
As if he was responding to Alamolhoda,Sunni Leader Mawlana Abdolhamid, who led the Friday prayers in Zahedan, said, "Good for you if you can make missiles, but you need to feed the people first." His comment was a reference to Iran's economic crisis that has been pushing millions of Iranians under the poverty line particularly during the past two years.
Meanwhile, Iran's former reformist President Mohammad Khatami criticized the government's approach to hijab and hardliner clerics such as Alamolhoda's insults against Iranian women who brand women without hijab as "unchaste." Khatami said: "Hijab and chastity are two different things," adding that hardliner "clerics should not impose the hijab on the Iranian society."
He pointed out that hijab is a matter of choice, and it should not be imposed on women. He suggested that hardliners should avoid imposing "backward" ideas on the society. He added that "Islam should respond to the needs of the modern world." Khatami further stressed that "Women need to be respected if we wish to move toward a better future."
Khatami said: "You should be a human being first and then decide whether you want to be a religious person." He reiterated that there should be no difference between men and women in terms of freedom and dignity and we understand that there will be no limit to our growth."
Meanwhile, Khatami's former chief of staff, Mohammad Ali Abtahi said: "The affairs of the state cannot be furthered by forcing the people and pushing them into paradise, but some of the country's decision-makers believe that this is a good way of running the country and anyone against it should be suppressed." He called on the government to respect the preferred lifestyle of young Iranians.
Zarif who was the main speaker at a five-hour long audio discussion on the social media app Club House earlier this week, defended his diplomatic approach of negotiations to reduce Western pressure on Iran.
The former foreign minister has long been a target of Iran’s hardliners as the supposed architect of the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal and allegedly as a man inclined to forge better ties with the West. But in June these attacks intensified as Zarif began to tweet after a long silence.
The Raisi administration-owned daily Iran newspaper wrote Thursday that former Foreign Minister Zarif and former President Hassan Rouhani's foreign policy was nothing more than "begging the West for attention." The daily also charged that their policies were "marked by ignorance, confusion and naivety."
The daily added that Zarif and Rouhani's policies made the Iran's situation and its ties with other countries more complicated than ever. However, the newspaper did not specify its accusations with examples.
The daily wrote that their priority was redefining Iran's relations with the world, but their vision was limited to Europe and the United States. The statement was, of course, mindless of the fact that Iran's 25-year cooperation contract with China was signed under Rouhani with Zarif.
Iran daily also charged that Zarif's foreign policy was limited to furthering the talks over Iran's nuclear program. The daily further charged that Iran's ties with its neighbors were downgraded under President Rouhani.
In fact, it was Iran’s aggressive regional political and military policies and interventions in Syria and Yemen that soured it ties with Sunni Arab states. These policies were part of a grand strategy devised or at least approved by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and not at the presidential level.
While under attack from the conservative camp Zarif said on Thursday that he has no plans whatsoever for the elections and added that he is not the kind of man who would run for the parliament, Zarif said that the controversy over his Clubhouse presence is rooted in the conservative's fear of his possible plans to run for President in 2025. He added that he has no plan to run for the post or to campaign for other politicians.
In the meantime, the editor of Jomhouri Eslami newspaper, Masih Mohajeri suggested that Zarif and his predecessor at the foreign ministry, Ali Akbar Salehi who later played a part in forging the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement, should take part in an open debate with the leading hardliners aligned with the current government who have been obstructing the nuclear talks for many years.
Mohajeri wrote that Iranians have a right to know what has happened to the talks and the nuclear program and such a debate can shed light on many ambiguities and show clearly who is right and who is lying about the other sides foreign, economic and domestic policies.
Also defending Zarif on Thursday was the centrist daily Ham Mihan, which attacked the Raisi administration and wrote that the current government portrays a disparaging image of its predecessor and characterizes its performance as "treasonous", while making a lot of fuss about its own meager achievements.
Ham Mihan wrote that the ruling politicians take advantage of the silence of the officials of the previous government and pass unilateral judgements about the Rouhani administration's track record without giving him and his aides a chance to freely respond to the accusations. Ham Miham further lashed out at the Raisi administration for lying about its "achievements" and not tolerating any criticism. The daily claimed that Raisi and his supporters hold more grudges against their political rivals than foreign enemies.
Foreign Policy expert Ghasem Mohebali defended Zarif by saying that what he said showed the difference between two approaches to national interests and the nuclear talks, adding that Zarif's approach was an example of efficiency while the new government's track record has all the signs of inefficiency.
Expediency Council member, moderate conservative politician Mohammad Sadr, on the other hand, defended Zarif and praised his performance regarding the nuclear deal, and attacked Raisi: "I have told Raisi that he is personally responsible for the economic problems resulting from the inconclusive situation of the nuclear talks under his government."