Rouhani Urges Iran MPs to Cooperate as Parliament Opens

President Hassan Rouhani urged Iranian lawmakers to "cooperate" with his government in a speech on Wednesday during the inaugural session of the new parliament following a February election swept by conservatives.

The parliament, a legislative chamber that shapes debate in Iran, had been closed for six weeks until April 7 as part of measures aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Iran has been hit by the Middle East's deadliest outbreak of the virus. Its toll stands at more than 7,500 dead and nearly 140,000 infected.

"I hope that in the year that remains for this government we will be able to cooperate and work together," Rouhani said in the address before the newly formed parliament, or Majles.

Iran held a legislative election on February 21 and is scheduled to hold a presidential poll in around 12 months.

The 11th legislature since the Islamic revolution of 1979 opened as the country's economy gradually returns to normal from the virus outbreak.

In a sign that the fight against the virus is still far from over, however, a seat was left vacant between each deputy.

But many of the elected representatives wore no masks.

Rouhani, who is in the final year of his second and final term, called on MPs, collectively and individually, to place the "national interest above special interests", "party interests" or "constituency interests".

The moderate president defended the performance of his government, which has faced criticism from its conservative and ultra-conservative opponents who now form a majority in the parliament.

'Olive Branch'

For many observers, the record abstention in February's elections reflected the people's disenchantment with broken promises.

Less than 43 percent of voters cast ballots in the election, according to official results.

Voters stayed away after the Guardian Council, a watchdog dominated by ultra-conservatives, disqualified many moderate and reformist candidates from the February 21 election.

The signing of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme in 2015 had raised hopes for a bright economic future and an opening up of the country to the world after years of isolation.

But these hopes were dashed before being totally buried in 2018 when US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord and began reimposing sanctions on Iran.

In his speech, Rouhani again denounced what he called the "psychological war" and "economic and medical terrorism" that he said the United States was waging against his country.

But he said the Iranian nation had stood up against "the enemy" and that its resistance had won.

The president praised his government's performance in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak as a source of "great pride", adding that Iran was "among the countries that have succeeded".

Fereshteh Sadeghi, a political journalist in Tehran, expressed doubt that the new parliament would cooperate with Rouhani's government.

"Rouhani again offers olive branch to new parliament, saying he doesn't seek confrontation but friendship," she tweeted in English.

"He knows these rivals can't be controlled as Ali Larijani did it for him in the past 7 years. God helps him!" she said, referring to the outgoing parliament speaker.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Reports Lowest Virus Infections Since March 10

Iran said Saturday there was a "clear drop" in the number of new coronavirus infections as it reported 802 fresh cases, the lowest daily count since March 10.

The new cases brought to 96,448 the number recorded in Iran since it announced its first cases in mid-February.

"This shows a clear drop in the number of new infections compared to recent weeks, despite our active testing," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on state television.

He added that 77,350 of those hospitalised have since been discharged, claiming it is a "one of the highest recovery percentages in the world."

New deaths from COVID-19 rose slightly to 65 in the past 24 hours, reaching a total of 6,156, Jahanpour said.

Doubts have been cast over Iran's coronavirus figures by experts and officials both at home and abroad.

Iran's deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi warned that the fall in the number of infections could quickly reverse.

"I emphasize that this steady decline is fragile," said Harirchi, who has himself recovered from COVID-19.

"Carelessness in gatherings, reopening (businesses) and observing health protocols can make the country face serious problems again."

He also called on the government to increase health sector spending, which he said had been hit by fiscal pressures resulting from sweeping US sanctions and the global economic contraction sparked by the coronavirus.

Iran has tried to contain the spread of the virus by shutting schools, universities, cinemas and stadiums among other public spaces since March.

But it has allowed a phased reopening of its economy since April 11, and authorities are now mulling allowing sports, cultural and religious centers too.

Tehran authorities, who have kept public transportation running despite warnings from health experts, made it mandatory for passengers to wear masks as of Saturday.

The virus has not spared public figures, with at least 12 current or former government officials or lawmakers dead and more infected. 

One of the most senior—parliament speaker Ali Larijani—made his first public appearance in a month on Saturday, donning a protective mask to attend a televised meeting alongside the president and the head of the judiciary.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Warns of Repercussions for IAEA Over European Moves

Iran's parliamentary speaker on Sunday warned of unspecified repercussions for the UN's nuclear watchdog if European nations that launched a dispute mechanism against the Islamic republic act "unfairly.”

Britain, France and Germany launched a process last week charging Iran with failing to observe the terms of the 2015 deal curtailing its nuclear programme, while Tehran accuses the bloc of inaction over US sanctions.

The EU three insisted they remained committed to the agreement, which has already been severely undermined by the US exit from it in 2018 and its reimposition of unilateral sanctions on key sectors of Iran's economy.

"What the three European countries did regarding Iran's nuclear issue... is unfortunate," parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

"We clearly announce that if Europe, for any reason, uses Article 37 of the nuclear agreement unfairly, then Iran will make a serious decision regarding cooperation with the agency," he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Since May 2019, Iran has progressively scaled back some commitments under the agreement in response to the US sanctions and Europe's inability to circumvent them.

It has stressed, however, that they can be reversed if Tehran's interests are realised.

Iran's latest and final step in January entailed forgoing the limit on the number of machines used to make uranium more potent.

The 2015 nuclear deal—known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—was struck in Vienna by Iran, the EU three, the United States, China and Russia.

It has a provision that allows a party to claim significant non-compliance by another party before a joint commission.

Articles 36 and 37 of the deal say if the issue is not resolved by the commission, it then goes to an advisory board and eventually to the UN Security Council, which could reimpose sanctions.

The decision to begin the so-called dispute mechanism process comes as tensions soar between the West and Iran following the killing of top commander Qasem Soleimani in a US air strike, and the admission by Tehran days later that it had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner.

"The issue is not Iran's behaviour," said the parliamentary speaker.

"It is America's threats that have pushed a powerful European country to a humiliating and unjust" position, said Larijani.

Germany confirmed last week that the United States had been threatening to impose a 25-percent tariff on European cars if the bloc continued to back the nuclear deal.

Photo: IRNA

Trump Offensive Leaves Iran’s Hardliners Ascendant as Poll Nears

By Golnar Motevalli and Arsalan Shahla

After a dozen years as speaker of Iran’s parliament, half of them allied with President Hassan Rouhani as he reached out to the West, Ali Larijani is bowing out.

It’s been a tumultuous reign, book-ended by devastating U.S. sanction regimes. But his decision not to contest February 21 national assembly elections is more than a hard-earned career change. Those who backed Rouhani when Iran negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, including the influential 62-year-old Larijani, stand fatally weakened as the accord crumbles under President Donald Trump’s economic offensive and Tehran’s tit-for-tat reprisals.

The U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign weakened the position of Iran’s reformists, according to one of their number, Jalal Mirzaei.

“Things were going well,” Mirzaei said in Vienna this month as he attended an OPEC meeting. Then “Mr. Trump became president.”

As a result, more than six years after Iranians opted for change under Rouhani, arch-conservatives are ascendant, dominating the field of favored ballot candidates. The consequences for Iran and regional security are substantial.

On the Backfoot

“We’re in a situation where the more reasonable voices calling for a much more open Iran which was pro-diplomacy are fast losing ground to hardliners,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council of Foreign Relations.

The Trump administration sought to weaken Iran, which he blamed for stirring regional strife and exporting extremism, in part by alienating Iranians from their leaders. His administration pointed to last month’s protests and a deadly security crackdown as evidence the sanctions strategy is working.

To further its aims, the U.S. might welcome power consolidated in the hands of ultra-conservatives, said Geranmayeh, if that undermines European resolve to maintain ties with Iran.

But for many observers, the electoral realignment’s more likely to extend the standoff. After all, encouraging Iran to accept greater curbs on its nuclear and missile programs for sanctions to be lifted becomes harder if the result is to sideline the people who might be willing to make the case for concessions.

While Iranian leaders have mostly remained united in opposing negotiations with the U.S. until it removes sanctions, two attempts by French President Emmanuel Macron to kickstart talks showed promise. The second foundered after a September attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, which Washington blamed on Iran, hardened positions.

‘Gravely Damaged’

“By undermining Rouhani’s most important achievement, Trump gravely damaged his presidency and popularity,” said Ali Vaez, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. “What has been fatally damaged in the process is not just pro-engagement Iranian politicians, but the whole concept of engagement with the West.”

The 16,145 people registered to contest 290 seats in parliament represent the narrow spectrum of Iranian politics. But the most well-known number among Rouhani’s fiercest critics, supporters of an unflinching interpretation of Iran’s Islamic laws with careers defined by distrust of the U.S. and the wider West.

They include ex-mayor of Tehran and former military officer Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf; Vahid Yaminpour, a TV personality; and legal scholar and cleric Hamid Rasaei.

The most notable reformists standing are Rouhani’s former top legal adviser Shahindokht Molaverdi, and the president’s son-in-law. The current record number of 14 women lawmakers is likely to drop.

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on December 2 said the Trump administration’s reliance on sanctions to achieve goals in places like Iran and Venezuela had been “incredibly effective.” Tehran has fewer resources to conduct a regional “terror campaign,” he said.

Collision Course

Yet a lurch to the right in Iran risks emboldening the security services and their proxy forces in war zones such as Yemen and Syria, raising the chances of a confrontation, orchestrated or unplanned, with the U.S. just as its Gulf partners want to deescalate tensions.

And it could overwhelm the government with “monthly and even weekly interrogations of ministers and impeachment efforts,” said Geranmayeh. Targets will include Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, one of Rouhani’s most effective technocrats who has longstanding links to reformers, and whom hardliners in parliament are currently trying to impeach.

The government had lost support before Trump exited the nuclear deal last year, for failing to deliver the jobs and better pay the accord promised. Other Iranians, dismayed over no progress in delivering greater social freedoms, lost patience.

As a U.S. ban on critical oil exports tipped the economy into recession, the government’s popularity dived.

Low Turnout

The slump is expected to reduce turnout in February, boosting hardliners whose supporters traditionally vote under instruction from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mohammadali Abtahi, a reformist cleric jailed during unrest that followed 2009’s disputed presidential election, told Shargh newspaper that “unpopular” conservatives would “emerge as victorious only if turnout is low.”

He’s not the only moderate to speak out. In a statement read by supporters, former President Mohammad Khatami, whose words can’t be reported in Iran due to a ban, told a December 12 Tehran rally that the only alternative to an Islamic Republic that honored its original founding principles was a dictatorship.

Others present called on Khamenei to overhaul an opaque council able to disqualify election candidates with little accountability, as well as to avoid using decrees—such as the one that triggered November’s violence—to bypass parliamentary oversight.

As for Larijani, Iran’s former top nuclear negotiator may be taking a step back to consider a bid for the presidency. But much of that would depend on the fate of the nuclear deal and whether Trump himself wins another term next year.

Seething Unrest

For now, as he nears the end of his tenure, Larijani still has the task of refereeing a majority-moderate parliament that’s using whatever time it has left to amend the gasoline policy.

In Tehran, where an acrid smog hung over commuters, first-time voter Amirali, 20, dismissed the system as corrupt.

“Somebody comes along with the promise of a better future and people fall for their words,” he said, asking not to be identified due to the sensitivity of speaking to foreign media.

The spark for the protests was a surprise decision to hike gasoline prices and introduce rationing. Demonstrations swept through the cities of Tabriz, Isfahan and Mashhad, and then spread to Tehran as the city was cloaked by a sudden snowfall.

Unverified mobile-phone footage showed clashes between protesters and security forces. Authorities imposed an unprecedented internet blackout and it’s still not clear how many people were killed: death tolls range from an initial 12 reported by officials—a number that hasn’t been updated—to an estimate of more than 200 by Amnesty International.

The violence underscored moderates’ perilous position with less than two years left of Rouhani’s second and last term.

“The most important thing that brings people out to vote is hope,” said Zanganeh, in what could turn out to be a grim prophesy. “And the thing that drives them away is hopelessness.”

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says May 'Reconsider' Atomic Watchdog Commitments

Iran warned Sunday it may "seriously reconsider" its commitments to the UN atomic watchdog if European parties to a nuclear deal trigger a dispute mechanism that could lead to sanctions.

The 2015 nuclear accord has been unravelling since last year when the United States unilaterally withdrew from it and began reimposing sanctions on Iran.

The three European countries still party to the deal—Britain, France and Germany—have been trying to salvage it but their efforts have so far borne little fruit.

"If they use the trigger (mechanism), Iran would be forced to seriously reconsider some of its commitments to" the International Atomic Energy Agency, said parliament speaker Ali Larijani.

"If they think doing so is more beneficial to them, they can go ahead," he told a news conference in Tehran.

In May, one year after the US pullout, Iran began retaliating by scaling back its commitments to the deal—known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Following its latest step back this month, the European parties warned the JCPOA's dispute resolution mechanism could be triggered if Iran continued down that path.

It covers various stages that could take several months to unfold, but the issue could eventually end up before the UN Security Council, which could decide to reimpose sanctions.

Larijani also suggested the current deadlock with the United States could be "fixed" if Iran's arch-foe learns from the past.

Ahead of the 2015 deal, then US president Barack "Obama wrote a letter and said that I accept Iran's enrichment, now let's negotiate," he said.

"If the American officials have just as much wisdom, to use past experiences, then they can fix this issue."

The JCPOA set out restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of Western sanctions.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Judiciary Chief to Head Powerful Expediency Council

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed the head of the judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani, as chairman of the powerful Expediency Council on Sunday, according to his website.

The Expediency Council is a key behind-the-scenes institution, settling disputes between different branches of government. 

It was led for many years by one of the Islamic republic's founding figures, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, until his death in early 2017.  

Larijani, 58, was personally sanctioned by the United States in January 2018 for "human rights abuses" and "supporting Iranian weapons programs", according to the US Treasury. 

He was also appointed to the 12-man Guardian Council—a post he previously held—that vets legislation and election candidates, according to a statement on Khamenei's website. 

A new judiciary chief was expected to be named shortly. 

Larijani takes over the Expediency and Guardian council posts from Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, who died last week. 

He is one of five Larijani brothers who all hold powerful positions within the establishment, most notably his eldest sibling Ali Larijani who is speaker of parliament. 

Khamenei's statement said "critical changes" were expected within the Expediency Council in the near future, without giving details. 

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Faces 'Chronic Challenges' Beyond US Sanctions: Speaker

Iran is facing "chronic challenges" that existed long before US sanctions were reimposed, the influential parliament speaker Ali Larijani said on Monday.

"External factors do affect our economy, but there are problems persisting from before," Larijani said at a press conference. 

He listed a number of challenges, including "big, costly government", high interest rates that "disrupt production", cash-strapped pension funds and a water crisis.

Parliament's research centre had "repeatedly warned" of these challenges, Larijani said, but the government has yet to respond on key issues. 

The United States' decision in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran has added another layer of difficulty.

The International Monetary Fund says the Iranian economy will contract by 1.5 percent in 2018 and 3.6 percent is 2019, largely due to reduced oil sales caused by the renewed sanctions. 

Larijani is an influential insider who was previously seen as deeply conservative but has lately forged a close working relationship with the moderate faction led by President Hassan Rouhani.  

He dismissed US President Donald Trump's offer to open fresh negotiations 
on a new deal.

"We hear two types of rhetoric from the US president—some cheap words and some talk on the side that they are ready for negotiation," he said. 

"Didn't we negotiate? When a country doesn't stand by international accords, how can we trust them?"

Photo Credit: IRNA