Member of Parliament: Khamenei Attended 9 Sessions of the Nuclear Steering Group

The Deputy Chairman of the National Security Commission of the 9th Parliament has stated that out of 17 sessions of the nuclear steering group held in the country, 9 sessions were attended by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and it cannot be claimed that the nuclear negotiations were not in line with the views of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Mansour Haqiqatpour said on Tuesday night, November 20, that Hassan Rouhani, Ali Shamkhani, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Ali Akbar Velayati, and Ali Larijani were members of Iran's nuclear steering group, and 'these five held 17 sessions over the past 24 months regarding the nuclear negotiations, of which 9 sessions were held in the presence of the Supreme Leader.' According to the Fars News Agency, he pointed out that the negotiations between Iran and the six world powers lasted more than two years, stating that 'in all these events and the course of negotiations, the main leadership was under the authority of the Supreme Leader and the National Security Council.' He emphasized, 'It cannot be claimed that the nuclear negotiations were not in line with the views of the Supreme Leader; rather, the Supreme Leader managed the negotiations,' and according to him, 'this management was of an extraordinary and special nature.' The statements of the Deputy Chairman of the National Security Commission come at a time when supporters of the Supreme Leader and hardline conservatives opposed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have repeatedly emphasized that Ayatollah Khamenei was not in favor of the Vienna agreement, and hardline MP Javad Karimi Qodousi had also stated that the Supreme Leader had warned Mohammad Javad Zarif. Hussein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper, also wrote on August 15 that Ayatollah Khamenei 'is fully aware of the shortcomings and disastrous consequences of the mentioned agreement and it can be said with confidence that he is in no way satisfied with the prepared text.' The news of the Supreme Leader's presence in half of the sessions of the nuclear steering group is significant from another perspective, as Ayatollah Khamenei himself had described the knowledge of the details of the negotiations as 'inaccurate' on April 8 this year. The Leader of Iran said, 'Sometimes it is said that the details of these negotiations are under the supervision of the Leader, while this statement is not accurate.' Mansour Haqiqatpour, in another part of his remarks on Tuesday night, stated that with the approval of the JCPOA, the country has passed through a 'dangerous past' and 'the cost of sanctions to the country has been about 250 billion tomans per day, which is equivalent to the construction costs of three provinces: Zanjan, West Azerbaijan, and Ardabil.' According to the Vienna agreement reached on July 14 this year between Iran and the six world powers, including the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain along with Germany, in exchange for dismantling a large portion of Iran's centrifuges at the Natanz and Fordow facilities, significantly reducing its enriched uranium stock, and repurposing the Arak heavy water reactor, international sanctions against Tehran will be lifted or suspended. Senior Iranian officials state that sanctions will be lifted by the end of this calendar year, December 31, while the U.S. claims that the implementation process of the JCPOA will take four to six months.