From 'Dismissing the Sanctions Monster' to 'Seven Months of Artificial Breathing'

The newspaper Etemad, while publishing a photo of the foreign ministers of Iran, the 5+1 countries, and Catherine Ashton on the front page, reported under the headline 'Extension of Diplomacy' that 'Iran and the 5+1 continue negotiations to reach a comprehensive agreement with the extension of the Geneva agreement.' The newspaper Iran published President Hassan Rouhani's reaction to the end of the Vienna negotiations on its front page, quoting the Islamic Republic's president as saying, 'There is no way but to reach an agreement and end the sanctions.' In its editorial, while predicting an increase in the activities of hardliners within, it referred to 'keeping the negotiation light on,' 'dismissing the sanctions monster,' and transforming the situation between Iran and the West from 'on the brink of war to on the brink of peace' as the three main achievements of 16 months of negotiations. The newspapers Aftab Yazd and Shargh described the result of seven days of negotiations in Vienna with similar headlines, 'Extension of Hope.' The newspaper Shahre Vahdat reported under the headline 'Not Over,' stating: 'Progress, extension, and hope; diplomacy does not fail.' The newspaper Auman chose the headline 'Seven Days of Negotiation, Seven Months of Extension' for its final report on the Vienna negotiations. The newspaper Kayhan, instead of the title 'Extension of Negotiations,' used the title 'Extension of Sanctions' and wrote: 'The result of a year of negotiations with the 5+1 is that 'the master was not trustworthy, and the sanctions were extended.' The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Steadfast Front, printed part of its front page white, with only two columns of notes and the headline 'Nothing,' stating: 'A year has passed since the Geneva agreement; nuclear negotiations to lift sanctions have not yielded results; the Geneva agreement has been extended for another seven months.' The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also described the outcome of the Vienna negotiations on its front page as 'Definite Continuation of Sanctions until Summer' and 'Seven Months of Artificial Breathing for Nuclear Diplomacy.' This newspaper simultaneously dedicated its front page photo to the presence of Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the IRGC, and Mohammad Reza Naqdi, commander of the Basij, at the inauguration of '20,000 Basij projects,' quoting the IRGC commander as saying: 'All of Israel is within the range of resistance missiles,' and 'We feel fear and surrender in the presence of America.' The newspaper Jahan San'at published a report on 'The Funeral Ceremony of Mohsen Khoshkhash,' a physics teacher killed by a student, quoting Kourosh Mohammadi, head of the Iranian Social Pathology Association, who identified the inability of the Iranian education system as one of the culprits of this incident. The newspaper Kasb-o-Kar examined the different statements of experts and officials regarding the 'Cancer Tsunami' in Iran in a report titled 'Cancer Tsunami; Rumor or Reality,' stating: 'No matter how much officials say that the existence of a cancer tsunami in Iran is not a reality, the news tells a different story. Just last week, Gholam Hossein Mazloumi, Morteza Pashaei, and Majid Bahrami died of cancer.' The newspaper Abrar dedicated its front page to 'Issuing a Two Billion Toman Bail for Saeed Mortazavi' and quoted Mostafa Torkhamdani, the lawyer for several workers in the Social Security case, stating: 'In the session on Tuesday, after informing Saeed Mortazavi, the former head of the Social Security Organization, of the charges, the investigator of the 15th branch of the Government Employees Court issued a two billion toman bail to prevent escape and ensure access to the accused. The charges of breach of trust, embezzlement, and illegal possession of state property were conveyed to Saeed Mortazavi.' 'Extension of Diplomacy' The newspaper Etemad, while publishing a photo of the foreign ministers of Iran, the 5+1 countries, and Catherine Ashton on the front page, reported under the headline 'Extension of Diplomacy' that 'Iran and the 5+1 continue negotiations to reach a comprehensive agreement with the extension of the Geneva agreement.' The newspaper emphasized that 'seven more months have been added to the calendar of Iran's nuclear negotiations with the 5+1,' stating: 'The new deadline for a comprehensive agreement is July 1, 2015,' and 'Iran receives $700 million monthly from its blocked funds.' Sara Masoumi, the Etemad correspondent in Vienna, reported on the last day of negotiations that 'while until noon on Tuesday all speculations were focused on the parties reaching a comprehensive nuclear agreement, from the evening of that day, the tide turned, and whispers of extending negotiations intensified. Given that the seven countries had exerted all their political and technical initiative over the past year to reach a conclusion on this issue, the option of a complete failure of negotiations was taken off the table, and everyone began to think about a form of extension that could serve as a lifeline for the negotiations.' The newspaper's reporter also emphasized that 'the extension of nuclear negotiations until July indicates that Iran and the 5+1 were unable to reduce the volume of disagreements during this time and did not prioritize political will for an agreement over political disagreements.' The newspaper Etemad stated: 'While the internal atmosphere in Iran had recently prepared itself for the signing of a comprehensive agreement, and many Iranians were waiting for the comprehensive nuclear agreement on various social media platforms, the extension of these negotiations in the form of extending the temporary Geneva program until July could face numerous domestic reactions.' The newspaper also reminded that 'the signing of a comprehensive agreement has been postponed to an uncertain future in the next seven months, while the extension of the temporary Geneva agreement and how its provisions will be implemented remains shrouded in ambiguity,' as 'the Joint Action Plan of Geneva, signed in November 2013 between Iran and the 5+1, was the only legal backing that both sides could use to continue negotiations by extending it, and now the question is whether the July version will be rewrapped.' Achievements of 16 months of negotiations; changing the situation from 'on the brink of war' to 'on the brink of peace' The newspaper Iran published President Hassan Rouhani's reaction to the end of the Vienna negotiations on its front page, quoting the Islamic Republic's president as saying, 'There is no way but to reach an agreement and end the sanctions.' In its editorial, while predicting an increase in the activities of hardliners within, it referred to 'keeping the negotiation light on,' 'dismissing the sanctions monster,' and transforming the situation between Iran and the West from 'on the brink of war to on the brink of peace' as the three main achievements of 16 months of negotiations. According to this newspaper, on Tuesday, after the end of the Geneva negotiations, Hassan Rouhani emphasized in a television interview that 'the future is bright, and the final victory in the nuclear negotiations will be with the Iranian nation,' and said: 'We must continue negotiations, and we will continue these negotiations seriously. Our logic is the logic of negotiation and interaction, and we must reclaim our rights; we consider sanctions to be unjust, and we must remove sanctions step by step. Our nuclear rights must be acknowledged and recognized by the world, which, thank God, is the case today.' Mohammad Noori, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Iran, in an editorial titled 'The Gift of the Vienna Travelers,' wrote: 'The seven-day nuclear negotiations in Vienna have come to an end. The Vienna negotiations had an exciting beginning but a calm and mild ending. The Vienna meeting resembled an exhilarating competition that the world was watching. However, the outcome of this thrilling competition was a tie, which, although it did not satisfy the spectators, all participating teams expressed satisfaction with this result.' The editorial writer of the newspaper Iran described the outcome of the Vienna negotiations as a 'realistic result' and wrote: 'Contrary to the general public's taste, the world of diplomacy does not have a place for miraculous events.' He wrote: 'In the case of the Vienna nuclear negotiations, Zarif or Kerry could have set aside all the teachings and professional principles of diplomacy and announced the end of 36 years of separation between Iran and the United States by signing a piece of paper in front of the cameras. But would all the apparent and hidden obstacles in the relations between the two countries truly collapse with this symbolic act?' The newspaper Iran pointed out that 'the nuclear issue of Iran resembles a complex thread that diplomats from both sides must patiently and wisely work to untangle each of these knots.' It stated: 'The great work of diplomats over the past 16 months, including during the seven days of negotiations in Vienna, was to keep the negotiation light between Iran and the West burning.' The editorial writer of the newspaper Iran also described preventing further sanctions and changing the situation between Iran and the West from 'on the brink of war to on the brink of peace' as one of the achievements of these negotiations, stating that diplomats 'have succeeded in distancing the ruthless sanctions monster from the nuclear arena based on their capabilities and experiences in diplomacy.' An aspect that opponents shy away from acknowledging is that over the past year, relations between Iran and the West have shifted from the brink of war to the brink of peace and cooperation, and every step from Geneva to New York and from Muscat to Vienna has brought the parties closer to this goal. The Vienna meeting confirmed this chosen path, and the parties pledged to pursue this dispute only through negotiation.' The newspaper Iran also predicted an increase in the activities of 'hardliners' in Iran, stating: 'It can be expected that from today, the market of analyses and interpretations, especially in the circles of hardliners, will flourish. Some indications suggest that a faction is trying to portray itself as the victor in the aftermath of the Vienna negotiations. This group is taking every opportunity to undermine the negotiation program and weaken the government's diplomatic team. This faction had prepared two scenarios for Vienna in its media days before and even had its newspaper headlines ready in advance. Their first scenario was that if the parties reached a final agreement, they would introduce this event as a kind of concession and retreat from the principles of the revolution. In their second scenario, which has now become the focus of hardline media, it is claimed that the non-signing of the final agreement is a sign of continued hostility from the other side and a justification for halting negotiations.' The editorial writer of the newspaper Iran emphasized that 'the hardline faction will attempt to attract the attention of some simple-minded individuals to the policies of the past eight years with this distorted image in the aftermath of Vienna, claiming that they have solutions for the nuclear issue up their sleeves.' However, this newspaper noted that 'the hardliners face an insurmountable obstacle in this propaganda operation: that over the past 16 months, all the truths related to the disastrous consequences of hardline thinking in foreign policy have become evident to the Iranian public, and at the same time, Iranian citizens have realized that it is possible to negotiate and cooperate with all the powers that have been in the sanctions front against Iran for eight years using the language of logic and reason, and instead of futile attempts to eliminate and defeat the opponent, to engage in a win-win game that has no path to failure, and this may be the most important lesson from the seven days of negotiations in Vienna.' Evaluation of the outcome of the Vienna negotiations by the newspaper close to the Steadfast Front: 'Nothing' The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, owned by Mehrdad Bazrpash, a representative close to the Steadfast Front, printed its entire front page white, with only two columns of notes and the headline 'Nothing,' stating: 'A year has passed since the Geneva agreement; nuclear negotiations to lift sanctions have not yielded results; the Geneva agreement has been extended for another seven months.' Abedin Nouraldini, in a report for Vatan-e-Emruz, wrote: 'The political agreement was merely a speculation. Vienna this time, like four months ago, was not pregnant with a big news. Perhaps if someone among the negotiators believes in superstitions, they might propose to hold negotiations again in Geneva. Vienna is cursed.' This newspaper emphasized that 'both the Iranian negotiating team and the Obama administration's negotiating team strongly opposed announcing the failure of negotiations, and therefore, perhaps extension was the only solution for both sides to continue negotiations.' It criticized the Geneva agreement again, quoting 'critics of the negotiating team's behavior in the nuclear negotiations' as saying: 'It has been repeatedly stated that the lack of balance in this weak agreement will definitely incur costs for Iran,' and now 'the extension of negotiations is again damaging and, more importantly, strengthens the opponent's calculations regarding the behavior of the Iranian team.' This newspaper also wrote that 'the extension is a very profitable scenario for the American side and their partners,' including 'Israel.' Mehdi Mohammadi, a member of the Supreme National Security Council's secretariat during Saeed Jalili's tenure, also wrote in an editorial for Vatan-e-Emruz titled 'Behind the Scenes of Vienna' that 'the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 ended almost without results. The two sides were unable to reach a general political understanding, nor was it possible to finalize the details of a final agreement. The only thing we know has happened is that both sides have extended negotiations for about seven months under a new temporary agreement.' The editorial writer of this newspaper emphasized that 'the most important part of the issue, namely the quid pro quo that led to a new temporary agreement, is ambiguous,' describing the 'extension' of negotiations as 'a negotiating tactic' with two main objectives: 'First, to cover up the fact that negotiations have failed due to America's excessive demands, and second, to make the future process irreversible for both sides in such a way that they must reach a general understanding by March and a detailed executable text by July.' The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz emphasized that 'with the current position of the United States, it will be very difficult to reach an understanding and an agreement that both sides will adhere to, not only in the next seven months but even for a much longer time.' Kayhan's perspective on the end of the Vienna negotiations: 'Sanctions have been extended.' The newspaper Kayhan's front page on Tuesday used the title 'Extension of Sanctions' instead of 'Extension of Negotiations.'