Hassan Rouhani: If the U.S. Had Goodwill in Implementing the JCPOA, We Would Have Negotiated on Other Issues

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Tuesday night, August 12, of not adhering precisely to its commitments under the Vienna nuclear agreement, stating that if the U.S. had shown "goodwill" in implementing this agreement, Iran might have negotiated on other issues as well. In a live interview with Iranian radio and television, Rouhani accused Israel, the U.S. House of Representatives, and unnamed regional countries of obstructing the implementation of the Vienna nuclear agreement. Referring to the Supreme Leader's remarks, he mentioned that if the Americans had implemented the agreement with "goodwill" and prevented "sluggishness," "we might have negotiated with them on another topic that could have benefited them and the region as well." Rouhani also stated that the Vienna nuclear agreement has been well implemented in some areas, such as oil sales and money transfers, but there are "problems" in areas like cooperation with major banks and the transfer of Iran's reserves. He emphasized that the Vienna nuclear agreement has created a good atmosphere for the country, but the foreign side has shown "negligence" in its implementation. The Supreme Leader, on August 11, protested against the lack of a "sudden" lifting of sanctions against Iran, calling the Vienna nuclear agreement a "fruitless experience" in negotiations with the U.S. and stressed that "regional problems and challenges" cannot be resolved through negotiations. Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that sanctions against Iran have been lifted on paper, but the U.S. and European countries need to make "greater efforts" to eliminate the existing psychological atmosphere, especially regarding banking interactions. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry officials have stated that aside from European banks' concerns about sanctions, the "weakness in financial discipline" of Iranian banks in cooperating with European banks has also been "not insignificant," and the Central Bank is working to address this issue. U.S. officials, however, have rejected Iran's claims, stating that they have acted even "beyond their commitments" under the nuclear agreement. Additionally, Stephen Mull, the senior coordinator at the U.S. State Department for implementing the nuclear agreement, has said that only six months have passed since the JCPOA was implemented, and it takes time for its effects on people's lives to become apparent. In another part of his remarks, Rouhani criticized the "partisan" nature of the issue of "unconventional" salaries, stating that only about one percent of government managers receive "unconventional" salaries, which were also paid in the private-public sector, known as "privatized." He emphasized that "unconventional" salaries that are proven to have been received improperly will be returned to the government, and if it is determined that individuals have committed other violations, they will be referred to the judiciary. Rouhani described the role of cyberspace and social networks in the issue of salary slips as "very prominent." He added, "At the beginning of this government, some believed that these networks should be dealt with and closed, while in all surveys related to cyberspace, over 60 percent of people use cyberspace for entertainment, humor, and leisure, and 20 to 30 percent for scientific information and news." The president also emphasized that the agency responsible for ensuring "security" should not "enter the economy." He stated that "access to information for the people and comprehensive and non-partisan engagement is essential for combating corruption." Rouhani mentioned that transferring economic activities to the people is one of the ways to combat corruption and added that the laws related to Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution, which aims to transfer some government activities to the private sector, have been "poorly implemented." He also said, "Agencies that are supposed to maintain the country's security and have the primary responsibility should not enter the economic sector; the economy should be entrusted to the people, and the people should also pay their taxes." In another part of his remarks, Rouhani announced that "more than three billion dollars in investment has been confirmed in Iran." In response to criticisms that reducing inflation has come at the cost of increasing recession, he said, "In 2014, we managed to overcome recession once and reach three percent growth, but later, oil prices fell, and we faced problems in 2015." He expressed hope that Iran would achieve five percent economic growth in 2016. The president stated, "In the past year, 250 individuals with doctoral degrees and higher who were studying in other countries have returned to Iran." Rouhani has repeatedly expressed hope for the return of young students or graduates from abroad to Iran since the beginning of his administration. He had also stated in July that "in recent months, 200 elites, about 50 of whom studied at the top 10 universities in the world, have returned to the country, which means that hope has blossomed again in the country." Rouhani's remarks come at a time when in recent years, some Iranian specialists, including Omid Kokabi, a PhD student in physics at the University of Texas at Austin, and Hamid Babaei, a PhD student at the University of Liège in Belgium, have been imprisoned after returning to Iran. In recent months, the detention of Homa Hoodfar, a professor at Concordia University in Canada, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British citizen, are other examples of the treatment of Iranians residing abroad.