Continuation of 'Illegal' Sit-in Protesting Nuclear Agreement in Front of Parliament

While ISNA and IRNA news agencies reported on the issuance of a 'judicial order' and a request from the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic to end the sit-in protesting the nuclear agreement in front of Parliament, this sit-in continues. The Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, reported on Saturday, October 11, citing 'an informed source in Parliament' whose name was not mentioned, that a 'judicial order' has been issued to deal with the 'illegal sit-in' in front of Parliament, but so far, the police have not taken action against these individuals. According to ISNA, this 'informed source' emphasized that it has never been the case that individuals set up tents in front of Parliament, adding, 'If a car is parked in front of Parliament, it is immediately moved to parking, but now 50 tents have been set up in front of Parliament, blocking public passage and causing traffic.' Since Tuesday, October 6, a 'sit-in' in front of the Iranian Parliament titled 'Honor, Reject JCPOA' has begun in protest against the Vienna nuclear agreement, and a website named 'Comprehensive Reference Site for Protecting Nuclear Achievements' has been created to cover its news. While the Tehran governor has called this sit-in 'illegal', Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper, and several members of Parliament, including Hamid Rasai, Mehdi Koochakzadeh, Masoud Mir-Kazemi, Javad Karimi Qodosi, Abdolreza Moussavi, Nasrollah Pezeshkianfar, and Hassan Kamran have attended the sit-in and either spoken or conversed with the protesters. Meanwhile, the head of Greater Tehran police announced in front of the protesters that the Supreme Leader's opinion is 'the end of this gathering.' According to IRNA, Hossein Sajjadi-Nia, the head of Tehran police, has requested one of the main members of the Supreme Leader's office to inform the 'leaders of the gathering' about Ayatollah Khamenei's opinion. According to this report, Ammar Ammarlou, whose sit-in in front of Parliament followed his and his family's sit-in at this location, stated after speaking with this 'senior member' of the Supreme Leader's office, 'The opposition to the gathering is the opinion of the Leader's office, not his personal opinion, so we will continue our protest gathering.' IRNA reported, citing 'some witnesses', that the head of Greater Tehran police has threatened that if this gathering does not end, 'he will take decisive action.' The participants in the Parliament sit-in have called for the rejection of the Vienna nuclear agreement in Parliament. The report of the special commission reviewing the JCPOA and also 'the urgent plan to obligate the government to preserve the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the JCPOA' is on the agenda for the public session of Parliament next week. Meanwhile, Ebrahim Karkhaney, a member of the JCPOA commission in Parliament, promised on Saturday that the report of this commission will be read in the public session of Parliament on Sunday. He also stated that there are 'two types of thinking' among the members of the JCPOA commission, and 'efforts are being made to reach an understanding between these two perspectives.' The disagreement among Parliament members regarding the Vienna nuclear agreement comes as Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, a source of emulation in Qom, in a message referring to the 'many' calls and messages from the public, advised Parliament members not to delay the review of the Vienna nuclear agreement any longer and to finalize it. In his message, he referred to the situation in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, writing, 'Our country is a safe island located in the middle of a stormy sea... We should not make this safe island unsafe with internal conflicts.' This source of emulation emphasized, 'The people are very worried; it is appropriate for these dear ones to think about important future plans; there may be some weaknesses in the JCPOA that... they should think about proper management and interpretation of it.' Previously, some Parliament members had reported on proposals to 'compensate for the shortcomings' of the Vienna nuclear agreement and 'conditional acceptance' of this agreement. However, some principled figures, including Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper, have expressed hope that Parliament will 'reject the Vienna nuclear agreement outright.' In this context, Sabhani-Nia stated: The Parliament is reviewing an urgent plan related to the JCPOA. The urgent plan for implementing the JCPOA has been submitted to the Parliament's presiding board. The sit-in in front of the Iranian Parliament is demanding the rejection of the nuclear agreement with global powers.