Since US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal, internal tension is prevailing over Tehran’s political scene, as disputes reemerged between those who support the halting of Iran’s nuclear program and those who are against it.
President Hassan Rouhani is facing mounting pressure, as his negotiating team is scrambling for guarantees demanded by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to keep his country in the deal.
The Iranian government has so far been pursuing the diplomatic track in the nuclear deal with Britain, Germany and France, in addition to Russia and China, and maintaining a moderate scenario that prevents the withdrawal from the agreement.
The government has failed to execute promises made by the Iranian foreign minister to withdraw from the non-proliferation agreement in the event of Washington’s exit from the nuclear deal. Khamenei, for his part, announced conditions for his country’s commitment, in response to the terms declared last month by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
On Wednesday, Iran’s adviser on international affairs, Ali Akbar Velayati provided a new explanation of the Iranian conditions to the European side, while demanding closer ties with Moscow and Beijing.
Velayati issued unprecedented criticism to the nuclear agreement and its shortcomings, and considered the lack of a Persian version of the text as an “insult” to the Iranians, revealing that MPs faced a problem when they voted on its implementation in September 2015.
Regarding Khamenei’s conditions, the advisor called for re-producing uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a toxic substance used to enrich uranium. He also called for the acceleration of the manufacture of nuclear engines, which Iran wants to use in submarines.
Velayati’s demands did not stop at that point, but he called for the development of uranium enrichment devices of the "IR8" and "IR6" models and the processing of more than 190,000 centrifuges, based on Khamenei’s orders.
He added that Europeans should provide guarantees on the purchase of Iranian oil, as well as resolve banking problems and deal with Iran.
However, the advisor warned of what he called “European evil” and suggested that the alternative would be to resort to the East, which is seen as a strategy of rapprochement with Russia and China.
In response to his remarks, a member of the central committee of the reformist movement, Abdullah Nasri, said that Velayati has “turned 180 degrees from his previous stance in favor of the nuclear agreement.”
He added: “Velayati knows better than others that the nuclear agreement was in the interest of the nation.”
