PHOTO: Supreme Leader addresses Iran’s top officials on Wednesday

UPDATE 0845 GMT: On National Nuclear Technology Day, President Rouhani has defended the July 2015 nuclear deal as “the most significant day for diplomacy in the past 100 years”.

Rouhani praised Iranian negotiators and said, “This is a year when the world and international organizations have recognized the right of the Iranian nation for the nuclear technology….We have proved the world in the past year that ‘soft power’ can be more effective than hard power.”

Rouhani presented 12 nuclear achievements, including centrifuges for medical advances and a nuclear waste facility.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Iran’s Supreme Leader has maintained pressure on President Rouhani, repeating commands over both relations with the US and economic policy.

Meeting senior officials — including 1st Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri — on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei said:

We cannot trust the Americans, and besides the Americans, some other Western governments are like that. Therefore we have to rely on our own capabilities and the American officials’ positions and performance endorse such a view.

Khamenei did not directly refer to the July 2015 nuclear deal, but his message on the US and its allies reinforced his recent statements that Washington is not fulfilling the terms of the agreement, whose implementation was announced in January.

Since then, the Supreme Leader has accused the US of withholding Iranian assets and maintaining restriction on financial and banking sectors, blocking economic recovery. Khamenei has responded with a demand for self-sufficiency through the “Resistance Economy”.

He reiterated on Wednesday, “Production in both industrial and agriculture sectors must be given serious attention.”

Khamenei’s declarations have put the Rouhani Government on the defensive, checking its optimism after centrist-reformist success in the February 26 elections. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Leader publicly rebuked Rouhani for declaring that the nuclear Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action would be followed by a “JCPOA 2” for economy recovery, saying that the statement was giving into the “arrogance” of the US.

Given the opportunity by the Supreme Leader, the Revolutionary Guards ended 16 months of reluctant acquiescence and resumed their attacks on the nuclear deal on Wednesday. Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari chided the President:

What achievements has the first JCPOA brought that should make us look towards other JCPOAs?…Individuals who speak today about a series of JCPOAs are unknowingly moving down a counter-revolutionary path.

Khamenei did not refer to Jafari’s comments on Wednesday, but gave a surface appeal for co-operation: “Without cooperation among officials, [the country’s] affairs will not go ahead.”