Nuclear deal: From Iran's pulpits, a sign Rouhani has support from on high
| Lausanne, Switzerland
Returning to a hero鈥檚 welcome in Tehran after clinching a framework nuclear deal with world powers, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stood up through the sunroof of his car upon arrival Friday at the airport, waving as supporters chanted 鈥淟ong Live Zarif!鈥�
While some Iranians took to the streets to wave flags and celebrate as the agreement was announced Thursday night 鈥� jubilant at the prospect of sanctions being lifted, and of Iran鈥檚 isolation easing 鈥� it was the message from Friday prayer pulpits that should give Mr. Zarif particular satisfaction.
They indicated that Iran鈥檚 supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supported Zarif and his team, even though many hardliners 鈥� and at times, apparently Mr. Khamenei himself 鈥� have been critical of the nuclear talks.
The Tehran Friday prayer leader, Ayatollah Emami Kashani, said the nuclear deal 鈥� which lays out the parameters for curbing Iran鈥檚 nuclear program, in exchange for sanctions relief 鈥� 聽was a 鈥渧ictory for the Islamic Republic.鈥�
鈥淭o be fair, the negotiating team is modest and wise and have followed the supreme leader鈥檚 advice on heroic flexibility,鈥� said Mr. Kashani. 鈥淲e much congratulate the president and Mr. Zarif.鈥�
That was rare praise indeed, for the negotiating team and for relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who have come under constant attack from conservative political opponents.
New era of cooperation
On Friday Mr. Rouhani, in a national address, hailed the framework agreement as heralding a new era of 鈥渃ooperation with the world.鈥� He said Iran would continue to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, while vowing that Iran would stand by its commitments made in the negotiations.
"Some think we have no option except to fight the world or to surrender. But there is a third way, too. We have to have cooperation with the world," he said, according to the Associated Press.
The messages from the Friday prayer leaders are coordinated nationwide with Khamenei鈥檚 office.聽
鈥淭his shows the pressure coming from the top to disarm these hardliners who come up with strong words [against a deal],鈥� says a veteran analyst in Tehran who asked not to be named.
鈥淔riday prayers are a strong bastion of conservatives and hardliners 鈥� and all these nice words coming from there, of course it鈥檚 not unrelated to the leader鈥檚 views,鈥� says the analyst. 鈥淣obody dares to go against what he endorses. Hardliners of course keep saying what they say, but they鈥檒l have a harder time to oppose what鈥檚 happening.鈥�
Hardliners say Iran caved to West
Indeed, some Iranians oppose making any compromise with Western powers, especially on the nuclear issue, which they see as Iran caving into Western demands.
鈥淲e gave up a saddled horse, and in return we just received one with torn pieces of a bridle,鈥� said the editor of the hard-line Kayhan newspaper, Hossein Shariatmadari.
Esmail Kowsari, a conservative member of parliament from Tehran and member of the national security committee, complained that 鈥渢he negotiating team has showed slackness in the negotiations, and what was supposed to be achieved has not been achieved, and the results are not acceptable.鈥�
Despite those complaints, some Iranians have rejoiced in the fact that Prime Minister of Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel 鈥� a regional foe for decades 鈥� has opposed the deal so vehemently. Mr. Netanyahu said Friday the deal would threaten Israel鈥檚 existence. 聽
鈥淢any supporters of the deal point to this fact,鈥� says the analyst. 鈥淭hey say we should be congratulating Zarif for causing such an unprecedented division between Israel and America, and the reactions coming from Israel 鈥� all the fury and anger 鈥� 聽just shows we are on the right track.鈥�
Relief on social media
Iranians took widely to social media to express relief and support for the deal.
One cartoon circulating showed President Barack Obama and Rouhani in a warm embrace, both holding their fingers in victory signs and encircled by white doves of peace. Another showed Zarif leap-frogging over Obama.
Someone joked on Viber, the phone messaging app, that the deal would not yet effect Iran鈥檚 strict dress code: 鈥淟adies! The agreement was about nuclear issues 鈥� do not leave the house with shorts and sleeveless tops!鈥�
Sobhan Hassanvand, a journalist with the reformist Shargh newspaper, used a Persian proverb to describe the sense of a miracle having been performed in Lausanne: 鈥淎n idiot throws a stone into a well, a thousand sages cannot bring it out,鈥� he tweeted. 鈥淏ut Zarif did it鈥︹��
