海角大神

The key to unlocking decades of mutual US-Iran hostility 鈥� and to ending the 15-month imprisonment of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian 鈥� was once widely believed to be the historic nuclear deal agreed to last July.

But instead of a new era of budding US-Iran cooperation, a retrenchment is under way in Tehran that favors hard-line suspicions of the West, and especially the United States.

Iran鈥檚 supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has set the tone, referring since September to America as the 鈥淕reat Satan鈥� that used the nuclear negotiations only to 鈥減enetrate鈥� and damage Iran, 鈥渙pen the way for imposition鈥� of its influence, and 鈥渃hange鈥� the calculations of Iranian officials.

Mr. Khamenei has explicitly forbidden any further negotiations with the US, and has accused President Barack Obama of lying about not wanting to overthrow the Islamic Republic. In a letter that conditionally accepted the nuclear deal Wednesday, he pointedly told President Hassan Rouhani that the US 鈥渉as shown nothing but hostility鈥� toward Iran and will always do so.

Those moves undermine Mr. Rouhani鈥檚 stated aim to reengage with the US and the West, and reportedly include the arrest of another US-Iranian dual citizen last week.聽

Negotiators from both the US and Iran had indicated to each other that the nuclear deal could herald a broader though limited cooperation on thorny regional issues like the self-declared Islamic State and the wars in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. And in September, Rouhani said it was 鈥渁n impossibility鈥� to think that US-Iran animosity would continue 鈥渦ntil the end of the world.鈥�

But Khamenei鈥檚 comments have halted any forward dynamic for now, underscoring the challenge of moving beyond the entrenched distrust of the US that has been a聽pillar of Iran's revolution for decades. The warnings about US 鈥渋nfiltration鈥� appear to have also affected the case of Mr. Rezaian.聽A torrent of new details about the espionage allegations against him has been made public in recent days.

鈥淎yatollah Khamenei wants to ensure that the nuclear deal doesn鈥檛 disturb the existing balance of power in Iran,鈥� says Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

鈥淭he accord, which is certainly a political victory for President Rouhani, will have to be counterbalanced with more support for his rivals from the pinnacle of power,鈥� says Mr. Vaez. He notes that major decisions in Iran 鈥撀爈ike the 1988 cease-fire with Iraq and the 2003 nuclear deal with Britain, France, and Germany that temporarily halted Iran鈥檚 nascent enrichment program 鈥� are 鈥渁lways followed by difficult readjustments.鈥�

Conservatives have 'upper hand for now'

Iran has laid out a red carpet for Western investors hoping to tap into an emerging market bonanza when sanctions begin to ease early next year. Other modest steps 鈥撀爏uch as allowing a handful of American citizens into academic programs 鈥撀爌oint to progress for Rouhani鈥檚 oft-repeated desire to open Iran more to the outside.

Expectations were high that clinching a deal 鈥渨ould automatically enhance Mr. Rouhani鈥檚 position to expand social and political freedoms in Iran and resolve other issues in the US-Iran relationship,鈥� says Farzan Sabet, managing editor of the IranPolitik website and Nuclear Security Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford.

But those expectations did not take into account that the rare consensus among moderates and conservatives for a nuclear deal was to lift sanctions only, says Mr. Sabet, and does not extend to Rouhani鈥檚 broader agenda.

鈥淪o has there been post-deal backsliding in Iran toward old patterns?鈥� asks Sabet. 鈥淩ouhani may still genuinely want to deliver on expanding freedoms or improving ties with the United States. But his conservative opponents have the upper hand for now.鈥�

Indeed, Khamenei warned about the risk of cultural and political intrusion a month ago, and said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) 鈥渟hould prevent the infiltration powerfully.鈥�

Rezaian called high-level operative

With such an apparent green light, hard-line lawmakers in recent days have unleashed a barrage of detailed allegations against Rezaian, a dual US-Iranian citizen who is now the longest-held foreign journalist in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The allegations portray Rezaian as a high-level US operative whose network had penetrated power circles.

The spy charges are categorically denied as 鈥渁bsurd鈥� by Rezaian鈥檚 family and by the Washington Post. But the new details 鈥撀燼pparently drawn from a report and 鈥渃onfessions鈥� by the IRGC intelligence branch, which arrested Rezaian on July 22 last year 鈥� coupled with a recent video produced by the IRGC that lists alleged crimes, have significantly raised the profile of the case.

That comes amid news that another, unnamed dual citizen was arrested last week 鈥� if true, raising to four the number of Iranian-Americans known to be in Iranian custody. The IranWire website reported that 鈥渁 dozen plainclothes agents raided the family home鈥� of the visiting businessman and took him to Evin Prison.

鈥淭he leader loathes too much change too fast. That is why he is putting the brakes on all fronts,鈥� says analyst Vaez. 鈥淭he security establishment will now have to find proof for paranoia. In this witch-hunt, innocence is only an afterthought.鈥�

Tarring Rouhani with Rezaian

The fresh claims against Rezaian were laid out by Javad Karimi-Ghodousi and other anti-Rouhani members of the parliament鈥檚 National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, in interviews published by the Fars News Agency, which is linked to the IRGC.

The Post correspondent is alleged to have operated an 鈥淎merican intelligence station鈥� in Tehran, is familiar with 鈥渕odern espionage techniques,鈥� and was so close to Rouhani鈥檚 inner circle that he boasted to his US handlers that he knew the brand and flavor of the president鈥檚 chewing gum, claimed Mr. Karimi-Ghodousi.

The IRGC report, according to the Iranian lawmakers, paints Rezaian as a 鈥渧ery important figure to the Americans鈥� who had personally convinced Mr. Obama of his 鈥渃apabilities.鈥� He is an 鈥渙fficer of the soft war鈥� against Iran and worked for a US Senate group that believed that the regime would 鈥渇all in 48 months鈥澛爄f US-Iran ties could be reestablished.聽

Karimi-Ghadousi alleged that Rezaian was tasked 鈥渂y Zionists鈥� with fomenting ethnic unrest in villages, paid $3,000 for every second of his videos, and had a 鈥渟trong network in the body of the Islamic Republic鈥� so pervasive that his team 鈥渨ere present in the most private meetings of the president.鈥�

The IRGC鈥檚 weekly magazine Sobh-e Sadegh wrote聽on Oct. 12 that: 鈥淭he path to correct such trends is to arrest the domestic contacts that let Rezaian and future spies access confidential places.鈥�

During his visit to New York in September for the UN General Assembly, Rouhani had suggested that Rezaian could be set free as part of a prisoner swap for Iranians incarcerated in the US, mostly on sanctions-related charges.

鈥淭he hard-liners have issued a warning [to Rouhani]: More espionage cases could be revealed, implicating some of Iran鈥檚 most powerful people,鈥� writes journalist Reza HaghighatNejad in IranWire.

By repeating the IRGC claims, adds Mr. HaghighatNejad, Fars News is 鈥減resenting Rezaian as a symbol of US hostility, while at the same time reminding Rouhani that hard-liners have a few more battles to fight, and ammunition with which to do it.鈥�