PHOTO: President Rouhani addressing a Tehran ceremony on Thursday


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Promoting last week’s nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 Powers, President Rouhani hailed “dialogue and negotiations” in a speech at a Tehran ceremony on Thursday.

Rouhani combined the message with the firmness that the Government showed throughout the months of talks and has continued to display afterwards, hoping to block any hardline opposition to the agreement:

The agreement conveyed this message to the world: Put aside arms and threats forever!

This agreement sent the message to the world that the most difficult and complex international issues can be resolved through dialog and negotiations. It also gave the message that Iranians must never be threatened.

The President praised Iran’s negotiators for their “tireless efforts and steadfastness” during the discussions and applauded “the great Iranian nation for exercising patience during years of sanctions”.

The Government presented the 139-page deal to Parliament on Tuesday, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif telling the legislators that the outcome “proved one more time for the US that, as the Supreme Leader said, they can only see Iran’s surrender in their dreams”.

See Iran Daily, July 21: Foreign Minister Talks Tough in Parliament About Nuclear Deal


Revolutionary Guards Give Signal of Support for Tough-Talk Zarif Over Nuclear Agreement

The Revolutionary Guards, using their outlet Fars News, have given a signal of support for Foreign Minister Zarif over the nuclear deal.

Citing “a member of the Iranian team of negotiators”, Fars portrayed Zarif as a tough-talking defender of the Guards and Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Zarif supposedly told a delegate of the 5+1 Powers during the climactic talks:

Do you know who you are talking about? Do you know that the Iranian nation appreciates them for their bravery and sacrifices in defending their homeland against Saddam’s aggression?

When aggressive Saddam had all types of weapons in his hand and your governments had closed all paths to Iran’s access to arms supplies, the young IRGC [Guards] forces defended our country with their blood and sacrifices. Our people are thankful to them.

You’d better stop showing to the Iranian nation that you are standing opposed to the IRGC.

The source continued with a link to the fight against the Islamic State, “Zarif repeatedly reminded the western ministers that if General Soleimani had not stood up to the ISIL and other extremists in Syria and Iraq, they would have witnessed a different situation in many Iraqi and Syrian cities today.”

Fars also draws from President Rouhani’s speech on Thursday (see above) to depict a firm Iranian line that resulted in victory:

During the recent negotiations in Geneva and Vienna talks in the past months, it happened several times that we consulted with each other and I told them [the negotiating team] that if the opposite side didn’t accept [our demands], the team should leave the negotiating table and return to Tehran the same night.

“Mr. Zarif remembers the hours in Lausanne [negotiations] that I sent them messages at least on two occassions and told them to leave the negotiating table and return.

Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi continued the Government’s tough posture on Thursday in a speech in western Iran:

The impact of the nuclear talks could be traced upon Zionists and the Arab states in the region, which see themselves as the losers of the game.’

The Supreme Leader and nation played the main role in the nuclear negotiations and showed that the enemy could not achieves its targets despite sanctions.