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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday faced thinly veiled pressure over missing the deadline for the nuclear deal and a seven-month extension, with hardliners denouncing the diplomatic stalemate. The failure to seal the deal on a final agreement with the world’s leaders dominated Iranian newspaper headlines, with many editorials viewing further dialogue as worthless since talks have not yielded results yet.
The extension was also debated in parliament, where Rouhani was severely scrutinized, since he had told the nation on Monday that a deal would be done despite the hindrance. Parliamentarians have always maintained that Rouhani and his negotiators have already conceded too much in the talks, an opinion that was raised again on Tuesday.
Conservative MP Hamid Rasaie said that while any final deal would be an Iranian victory, Rouhani must resist a deal that costs Iran too much.
“No critic who is caring and supportive of the Islamic republic would be happy about your defeat. Our criticism relates to your optimism towards the West”, he said on the possibility of not having a deal by next year.
While Rouhani remains a lightning rod for opponents, the decision on a final agreement lies with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who officially supports Rouhani’s policy, despite publicly stating how the talks are pointless and echoing the sentiments of the hardliners.
On Tuesday, Khamenei said that Iran will not sink “to its knees” on the issue despite the best efforts of “arrogants” to make it so.
Many in the international community, including arch-enemy Israel, fear the Iran is using its civilian nuclear program as a front to develop a nuclear weapon, an allegation Iran strongly denies.
On Monday, Rouhani tried to rally support for the talks, saying that the deal was possible and that the sanctions would be lifted “step by step” though he will never give the program as a whole.
“During all this time centrifuges were spinning”, he said, referring to the talks’ focus on the technical process of producing high purity uranium, a material capable of producing atomic weapons.
“I promise the Iranian nation that those centrifuges will never stop working”, Rouhani said on state TV.