PHOTO: Tehran Friday Prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami
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The Tehran Friday Prayer has repeated the Supreme Leader’s warning to the Rouhani Government that it cannot assume support for its foreign and economic policies.
The Prayer leader, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, echoed Ayatollah Khamenei’s declaration that the July 2015 nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, cannot be followed by a “JCPOA 2, 3, and 4″. He also reinforced Khamenei’s denunciation of the US for not fulfilling the agreement, particularly through the lifting of sanctions on the financial sector and the return of Iranian assets:
Watch how the American presidential candidates insult the Iranian nation. One of them says that he will chop up this nuclear agreement.
In his New Year’s message last weekend, President Rouhani hailed a “JCPOA 2” to bring economic recovery to Iran after the lifting of US and European sanctions. However, the next day the Supreme Leader pushed back the President:
There are of course some inside Iran who believe in and accept this moving discourse of the arrogance system and who try to convince others as well.
They believe Middle East or domestic problems can be solved by JCPOA 2 and 3. This means giving up principles and red lines and yielding to the arrogance.
See Iran Daily, March 21: Supreme Leader Warns US & the Rouhani Government
Throughout the week, the challenge to Rouhani has been reiterated by high-level officials, including Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Council.
In the Friday Prayer, Khatami took advantage of new US sanctions, imposed on affiliates of the Revolutionary Guards over Iran’s ballistic missile program: “Our people know America as a promise-breaking country.”
See also Iran Daily, March 25: Tehran Criticizes New US Sanctions
The Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader, Ayatollah Alamolhoda, supported the line:
Anti-Iranian plots have doubled after the JCPOA.
They say that you do not have the right to defend yourself with your own technology, mind, and thoughts….America is a predator that puts the military option on the table every few months and says that you must not prepare defensive measures for yourself.
And in the holy city of Qom, Ayatollah Arafi, proclaimed: “Iran’s missile industry and the country’s scientific and technological progress are for the defense of the nation. This issue is not the place for dialogue, negotiations, and retreat.”
The warnings come as the Rouhani Government prepares to submit its 2016/17 budget — delayed for more than three months by the implementation of the nuclear deal and the February elections — to Parliament.
The Government has maintained its position through its responsibility to turn around the Iranian economy, but Ayatollah Khamenei indicated on Sunday that his office and its allies could take over and implement a “Resistance Economy”.
Friday Prayer leaders promoted Khamenei’s designation of the new Iranian year as “Resistance Economy: Actions and Implementation.” In Esfahan, Hojatoleslam Mirdamadi called for “planning and taking practical steps”: “The Resistance Economy will not be achieved through slogans, conferences, lectures, and the presentation of papers.”
The Shiraz Friday Prayer Leader, Ayatollah Emani, echoed, “This year is the year of action and implementation. Accordingly, this is not the year of slogans. The people must witness tangible results of the Resistance Economy.”
Rouhani Presses Trade and Investment Possibilities in Pakistan Trip
President Rouhani has promoted trade and investment possibilities in a two-day visit to Pakistan.
Accompanied by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Rouhani met Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain for an hour on Saturday. Rouhani emphasized Iranian readiness to supply Pakistan’s energy needs and said, “Post-JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] and post-sanctions era has provided both countries with the opportunity to develop their cooperation in fields of energy, petrochemicals and banking affairs more than before”.
The President added, “Strengthening border markets, moving towards free trade and creating joint commercial accounts can further deepen trade cooperation between the two countries”.
The President emphasized his goal by attending the Iran-Pakistan Joint Business Forum on Saturday. He told the audience that Iran’s trade with Pakistan, currently about $1 billion, could rise to $5 billion.
Rouhani welcomed by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday:
