Supreme Leader opposes nuke deal, says Iranian hard-liner
AP AND TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF
“Editorial by close Khamenei associate is first public sign that Ayatollah, who has final say on all matters, is not wholly in favour of recent agreement”
A prominent hard-liner in Iran says Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is opposed to a landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers.
Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the daily newspaper Kayhan who is appointed by Khamenei and a serves as a representative of the supreme leader, made the comments in an editorial Saturday.
It marked the first time someone had publicly claimed to know where Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, stands on the deal. Shariatmadari also referred to an Al-Quds Day speech by Khamenei last month during which the ayatollah said, “Whether this text is approved or disapproved, no one will be allowed to harm the main principles of the (ruling) Islamic system.”
The editorial noted: “Using the phrase ‘whether this text is approved or disapproved’ shows his lack of trust in the text of the deal.
If His Excellency had a positive view, he would have not insisted on the need for the text to be scrutinized through legal channels … It leaves no doubt that His Excellency is not satisfied with the text.” Khamenei has not publicly approved or disapproved of the deal.
However, he repeatedly has offered words of support for his country’s nuclear negotiators. Moderates also believe the deal would have never been reached without Khamenei’s private approval throughout the negotiations.
Arash Ghafouri, a former campaign organizer for reformist presidential candidate Mir Housein Mousavi, told Al Jazeera this week that: “The deal is done, the regime has approved it, and the supreme leader has signed off on it, so all this is just political rhetoric.”
He said that, “Despite all that the hard-liners are saying, which is nothing new, the regime has already accepted this deal, and one or two or three hard-liner headlines won’t have any impact on the country’s acceptance of this historic deal.”
The supreme leader appeared to have given measured support for the agreement, which lifts crippling sanctions on Iran in return for significant curbs on its nuclear program, in the July 19 Al-Quds Day speech in Tehran, days after the deal was reached.
“A word of thanks to officials in charge of these long and arduous negotiations — the honorable President and particularly the negotiation team who really made great efforts and worked hard,” he said.
“They will certainly be divinely rewarded whether the document that has been prepared will — through its determined legal procedures — be ratified or not.” (Shariatmadari interpreted that phrase very differently, however, deducing that it signaled opposition.)
“We have said this to those brothers in person as well,” Khamenei continued. “Of course in order to ratify this document, there is a clear legal procedure that, by Allah’s favor, has to be taken. We expect that these officials take the interests — interests of the country, interests of the people — into consideration by paying careful attention, so that when they deliver the matter to the people, they can do so with their heads held high in front of Allah the Exalted as well.”
Iran’s parliament and the Supreme National Security Council, the country’s highest security decision-making body, will consider the agreement in the coming days.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a top negotiator during the talks with the world powers, is scheduled appear before the Iranian parliament on Sunday for a session on the text of the accord and will take questions from parliament members.