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| Iran’s President Defends Nuclear Deal in Blunt Remarks | Iran’s President Defends Nuclear Deal in Blunt Remarks |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| TEHRAN — Pushing back against domestic critics of Iran’s nuclear deal, President Hassan Rouhani suggested on Thursday that the alternative was an economic “Stone Age” and that the accord was the precise reason he was elected two years ago. | TEHRAN — Pushing back against domestic critics of Iran’s nuclear deal, President Hassan Rouhani suggested on Thursday that the alternative was an economic “Stone Age” and that the accord was the precise reason he was elected two years ago. |
| The remarks by Mr. Rouhani at a medical conference, broadcast on national television, were among the bluntest he has made in defending the agreement reached with six big powers including the United States on July 14 in Vienna. | The remarks by Mr. Rouhani at a medical conference, broadcast on national television, were among the bluntest he has made in defending the agreement reached with six big powers including the United States on July 14 in Vienna. |
| Under the agreement, economic sanctions on Iran, including restraints on its oil and financial trade, will be lifted in exchange for significant limits on the country’s nuclear activities, with verifiable guarantees that they remain peaceful. | Under the agreement, economic sanctions on Iran, including restraints on its oil and financial trade, will be lifted in exchange for significant limits on the country’s nuclear activities, with verifiable guarantees that they remain peaceful. |
| Conservative elements of Iran’s political hierarchy, most notably the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its allies, have criticized the accord as an invasive affront to the country’s sovereignty and a capitulation to foreign adversaries, particularly the United States. | Conservative elements of Iran’s political hierarchy, most notably the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its allies, have criticized the accord as an invasive affront to the country’s sovereignty and a capitulation to foreign adversaries, particularly the United States. |
| Rebutting that criticism, Mr. Rouhani said the agreement not only retained Iran’s nuclear energy autonomy, but also removed the sanctions, which was what the Iranian people wanted when they voted in the last election. | Rebutting that criticism, Mr. Rouhani said the agreement not only retained Iran’s nuclear energy autonomy, but also removed the sanctions, which was what the Iranian people wanted when they voted in the last election. |
| “This is a new page in history,” he said. “It didn’t happen when we reached the deal in Vienna on July 14; it happened on the fourth of August 2013, when the Iranians elected me as their president.” | “This is a new page in history,” he said. “It didn’t happen when we reached the deal in Vienna on July 14; it happened on the fourth of August 2013, when the Iranians elected me as their president.” |
| Mr. Rouhani’s warning for critics in Iran came just before Secretary of State John Kerry told skeptical lawmakers in Washington on Thursday that rejecting the deal he negotiated risked diplomatic isolation. He testified at a Senate committee hearing, the beginning of a 60-day review of the accord by the United States Congress. | |
| In Iran, Mr. Rouhani spoke with uncharacteristic frankness about the corrosive effects of the sanctions on his country, which shriveled oil exports and denied it access to the global banking system. Under the sanctions, he said, Iran’s trade had been reduced to a “Stone Age level.” | |
| He expressed gratitude to his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi. Both were considered primarily responsible for reaching the nuclear agreement with the six world powers: Germany and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. | He expressed gratitude to his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi. Both were considered primarily responsible for reaching the nuclear agreement with the six world powers: Germany and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. |
| “How can one be an Iranian and not cheer our negotiating team?” said Mr. Rouhani, seeming to imply that critics of the accord were unpatriotic. | “How can one be an Iranian and not cheer our negotiating team?” said Mr. Rouhani, seeming to imply that critics of the accord were unpatriotic. |
| Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, who has the final word on the nuclear agreement, gave his tacit support to it on Saturday in a speech signifying the end of Ramadan. | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, who has the final word on the nuclear agreement, gave his tacit support to it on Saturday in a speech signifying the end of Ramadan. |
| But the ayatollah also cautioned his subordinates to scrutinize the fine print of the accord, reflecting his deep mistrust of the Western powers. He also said the outcome did not signal a thaw in long-estranged relations with the United States. | But the ayatollah also cautioned his subordinates to scrutinize the fine print of the accord, reflecting his deep mistrust of the Western powers. He also said the outcome did not signal a thaw in long-estranged relations with the United States. |