Ayatollah Khamenei's Policy in the Post-Agreement Era

Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, stated on Saturday during a meeting with various officials and ambassadors from Islamic countries at the Eid al-Fitr ceremony that despite the nuclear agreement, the Islamic Republic's policy towards the United States will not change. Khamenei said: "With these negotiations and the text that has been prepared, in any case, our policy towards the arrogant U.S. government will not change." Behnam Bayat, a nuclear issues expert and analyst in Austria, commented on Khamenei's statement about Iran's unchanged policy towards the U.S., saying that Khamenei and hardliners fear that this agreement might lead to an opening in Iran's relations with the outside world. He stated, "In my opinion, from two aspects, one is that regarding the nuclear program, which they have promoted for years, there is nothing left but a shell, and they must somehow repair this by showing aggression or moving forward internally. More importantly, Khamenei and his allies have been afraid from the beginning of a nuclear agreement that it might lead to the opening of Iran towards the world, and they would not be able to maintain the anti-Western stance that leads to Iran's isolation, which has both identity and economic implications for them. This is where their fear comes from, that changes might occur in Iran considering that Rouhani's statements after the Lausanne statement and now after this agreement have shifted towards opening Iran to the world and moving away from anti-Westernism and to some extent anti-globalism." Khamenei also stated that Americans are not honest and cannot be trusted, and Iran has experienced this distrust in the nuclear negotiations. The leader of the Islamic Republic warned, without naming opponents of the nuclear agreement, that there should not be "division" in Iran. Khamenei said: "There should not be division created from these nuclear and non-nuclear issues. One group says this way. After all, something is being done. There are officials who are pursuing it; hopefully, they will identify what is in the national interest and pursue it." However, Khamenei described the division among opponents of the nuclear agreement and the government as stemming from external propaganda: "If someone follows the foreign propaganda, these radios that are constantly broadcasting and the websites that are developing from their side are trying to create division among the people. Do not allow division... Maintain unity. Be together." Hossein Alizadeh, a former diplomat and analyst on Iranian issues in Finland, commented on these statements, saying: "Since Khamenei's heroic flexibility... from that time, a disagreement arose within the government regarding how a regime that considers itself the pure Islam of Muhammad can sit down to negotiate with the Great Satan. Khamenei's statement at this juncture indicates that he has accepted that this contract has been signed, and whoever has pushed it forward, whether good or bad, is accountable to him. This is where Khamenei, on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, says that this issue should not lead to division. In fact, he is speaking in a way that, with the influence he has among his followers, he is saying that this is something that has been done, and it should not cause disagreement. This is something we have moved forward with. This is a completed action for us. There is no turning back. Khamenei's statement is not a recommendation to avoid disagreement. Rather, he simply wants to say, I have moved forward, do not stretch it out." Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in his message on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, said that this year we are between two Eids. Eid al-Fitr and the Eid of national will, which emerged on the historic day of July 23 with a successful (according to Rouhani) "historic" agreement in Iran's nuclear file. Rouhani also expressed hope in a phone conversation with the Sultan of Oman that the agreement between Iran and the 1+5 countries would be a means to resolve problems and solve regional crises, contributing to stability and peace in this important region.