Iran deal hinges on sanction relief
Tehran demanding immediate rollback
WASHINGTON — Iran’s supreme leader said Thursday that there will be no nuclear deal with six world powers unless all economic sanctions are lifted immediately, and inspectors would have no access to military sites where some of Iran’s nuclear facilities are located.
The stipulations by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s ultimate religious and political authority, seemed to contradict what U.S. negotiators have characterized as tentative agreements that will guide more talks in advance of any final accord by late June. The State Department said Iran had agreed to the gradual lifting of sanctions, and that inspectors could go anywhere in the country — assertions made in a fact sheet that the ayatollah described as “lying and breaching promises.”
Ayatollah Khamenei’s comments in a televised speech marking the
National Day of Nuclear Technology — and in a string of uncompromising observations on his Twitter account — were his first on the preliminary agreement reached last week in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“Sanctions should be lifted completely, on the very day of deal,” he said. As he spoke, a crowd chanted, “Death to America,” Reuters reported.
Some experts said the ayatollah’s pronouncements did not necessarily mean he is drawing maximalist red lines sure to doom a final deal. Rather, he seemed to be trying to placate domestic hard-liners opposed to a deal that would allow foreigners — including the United States — some oversight of Iran’s nuclear program, an object of national pride.
“Obviously, what the supreme leader says is important,” said Robert Einhorn, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who was one of the State Department’s negotiators at the Iran nuclear talks up to 2013. “But we shouldn’t necessarily take it as his last words on these subjects. Part of his motive is to strengthen Iran’s bargaining position in the endgame.”
Ayatollah Khamenei’s words could, however, complicate matters for the Obama administration as it dispatches top officials to Congress to sell the preliminary deal and stop efforts by some lawmakers to place more sanctions on Iran.
The ayatollah noted that no “binding” agreement exists yet. Of the framework agreement made in Lausanne, he said, “I’m neither for nor against it.” In his televised speech, he ruled out any “extraordinary supervision measures” over Iran’s nuclear activities and said, “Iran’s military sites cannot be inspected under the excuse of nuclear supervision.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who organized an open letter to Tehran questioning whether a deal would outlast Mr. Obama, remarked on a Khamenei tweet in which the Iranian leader claimed that the U.S. summary of the framework “was contrary to what was agreed” and accused negotiators of trying to “deceive” the public. Mr. Cotton tweeted in return, “Hmmm.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who in the past has said sanctions would be eased gradually, made a similar point as the ayatollah in an earlier speech, although he seemed to draw a small but significant distinction. “We will not sign any agreement unless all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the first day of the implementation of the deal,” Mr. Rouhani said, using words that could be interpreted as meaning sanctions will be lifted when Iran takes steps that convert its promises into deeds.
The State Department had no immediate reaction to the speeches.
Iran’s supreme leader has previously staked out seemingly inflexible positions on which Iran later made concessions. He has said, for instance, that Iran would not give up any centrifuges for enriching uranium, but in Lausanne, negotiators agreed to give up more than two-thirds of the country’s 19,000 centrifuges.