Opponents of the JCPOA Caused the Closure of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli's Class

A group of opponents of the nuclear agreement gathered on Sunday and attempted to enter Ayatollah Javadi Amoli's ethics class in Qom, leading to its cancellation. These individuals protested against the non-approval of Iran's nuclear agreement with six world powers in the parliament and the end of the sit-in that took place on Saturday at the Grand Mosque of Qom. According to a report by IRNA on October 12, these individuals were described as 'a group of students and clerics who opposed the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and the way the police dealt with the protesters at the Grand Mosque.' Following their arrival and gathering at the Grand Mosque, some other students objected to them for causing a 'disruption in the mosque's atmosphere' and the cancellation of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli's class. Reportedly, one of the clerics later addressed the gathering and stated that he had conveyed their message to Ayatollah Javadi Amoli, after which he announced the 'closure' of the class. IRNA reported that Saeed Jalili (the senior negotiator in the Iran-5+1 talks during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency and an opponent of the JCPOA) was scheduled to speak at the Feyziyeh School in Qom on Tuesday night. However, after the cancellation of this speech, a group of students and Basij members staged a sit-in at this school from Wednesday morning and later that afternoon in front of the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly's office in Qom. They then moved to the Grand Mosque of Qom on Thursday night and continued their sit-in there until Sunday (yesterday). This sit-in was disrupted by police intervention. The protesters were objecting to what they called 'the failure to observe red lines in the JCPOA.' According to IRNA, these individuals, who 'due to the opposition of the custodians of the Ahl al-Bayt shrine to holding this gathering inside the Grand Mosque, staged their sit-in in the courtyard of this mosque,' intended to join a group of students and Basij members who had been protesting in front of the parliament in Tehran since the previous Tuesday. However, with the presence of police and the dispersal of the protesters in front of the parliament on Saturday evening, police officers from Qom also went to the Grand Mosque and declared the gathering illegal, ending the sit-in of the students and clerics there. According to the report, several individuals were arrested but were released after a few hours.