PHOTO: German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel visits palace in Isfahan during this week’s visit to Iran


WEDNESDAY FEATURE

Op-Ed: Why Nuclear Deal Could Revive A Movement for Democracy

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For all the tough talk from Iran since last week’s nuclear deal, State media reveals this morning the priority for the Islamic Republic: secure the agreement so Tehran can get badly-needed foreign investment.

Five of the top seven “Iran” stories on Press TV’s website — most taken from other Iranian outlets — proclaim that the money will be coming into Iran soon. Four of the five are on the energy sector, led by the announcement that a delegation from the Iranian oil industry is in Vienna “to introduce investment opportunities in Iran’s petrochemical industry to European investors”. following the removal of international sanctions against Iran.

The Managing Director of the National Iranian Tanker Company, Ali Akbar Safaei, assures that Iran’s ships will be delivering oil to Europe as soon as the nuclear deal is implemented and sanctions are lifted.

Press TV also heralds that “executives of India’s biggest energy, power and petrochemical companies have arrived in Tehran to explore investment opportunities”, and that “the National Iranian Oil Company and Lukoil are discussing the return of the Russian energy giant to Iran” in talks in Moscow.

A fifth article focuses on the three-day trip of German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel to Tehran, saying that the two sides discussed the expansion of “banking cooperation which is vital to Tehran’s rehabilitation into the global financial fold, from which it was shut off for years under draconian US and European sanctions”.

The economic stories are accompanied by assurances from the Government of Tehran’s triumph in the nuclear deal. President Rouhani put out the press statement for a Cabinet session on Wednesday, “Iran sought to establish its right to enrichment, and today the UNSC [UN Security Council] has explicitly acknowledged our country’s enrichment right.”

And Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi held the regime line that — for now — the agreement does not extend to cooperation with the US over regional issues. He said, “Iran does not expect a change in the behavior of the United States…and the US, likewise, should expect no change in the policies of the Islamic Republic.”

However, Araqchi indicated that “upon the decision of high-ranking Iranian officials, Iran may in the future engage in negotiations on specific topics with the US”.

The Supreme Leader vetoed President Rouhani’s proposal last June that Tehran should talk to the US about countering a rapid Islamic State offensive throughout Iraq. Since then, Ayatollah Khamenei has made repeated public declarations that Iran cannot trust a dishonest and devious US, amid crises from Iraq to Syria to Yemen.


Obama: Criticism of Iran Deal Echoes Failure of 2003 Iraq War

President Obama promoted the nuclear deal in a Tuesday speech, saying that criticism offered “echoes of some of the same mind-set and policies that failed us in the past” as it was put forward by “the same folks who were so quick to go to war in Iraq”.

Speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Obama called for “a smarter, more responsible way to protect our national security”, with “strong and disciplined diplomacy” instead of “chest-beating”.

Responding to challenges that he had avoided other issues to obtain the agreement, the President said:

We are not going to relent until we bring home our Americans who are unjustly detained in Iran.

Journalist Jason Rezaian should be released. Pastor Saeed Abedini should be released. Amir Hekmati, a former sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, should be released. Iran needs to help us find Robert Levinson [a retired FBI and DEA agent missing since 2007].