Rouhani: They say we had a good life under sanctions, why did you disrupt it?

The President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, referred to critics of the Vienna nuclear agreement as "pessimists and skeptics" and stated that these individuals do not consider the results of the lifting of Western sanctions to be significant, saying, "We had a good life under sanctions, why did you disrupt our good life?" According to the state news agency IRNA, Rouhani made these remarks on Sunday, May 1, during a Workers' Day celebration at the Mapna Company. He noted that the "pessimists and skeptics" had previously claimed that resolving Iran's nuclear issue in negotiations was "impossible." Rouhani further stated that after the Vienna nuclear agreement, these critics asserted that the agreement was "not implementable" and that the Western side would not fulfill its promises. He did not provide details about the identity of these "pessimists and skeptics" but addressed them by asking, "Why do you belittle the work of a great nation?" Rouhani also highlighted some impacts of the Vienna nuclear agreement, such as the increase in Iran's oil production from 1.2 million barrels to 2.2 million barrels, saying that the "pessimists and skeptics" claim these results are "not important." He added, "We say that today, under the JCPOA, your hands are free for money transfers, which they say is not important." Rouhani continued, "We say that under the JCPOA, instead of large ships docking at the shores of neighboring countries and transferring goods to Iran by small boats and paying an extra $700 per container out of people's pockets, they say $700 is nothing, we had a good life under sanctions, why did you disrupt our good life?" Rouhani and his close associates have previously referred to a group of opponents of the Vienna nuclear agreement as "sanction profiteers," claiming that they benefited from Western sanctions against Iran and are unhappy about the Vienna nuclear agreement and the lifting of sanctions. On Tuesday, April 20, Rouhani stated that some critics of the Vienna nuclear agreement claim that Iranian diplomats "were not victorious" but that the U.S. and Israel "were victorious in this arena." He asked these critics, "Where has your religious pride and zeal gone? Why do you not want to bow before the greatness of the Iranian nation that has achieved a great historical success?" On April 5, Rouhani emphasized that critics of the Vienna nuclear agreement "seem to have forgotten that if it weren't for the JCPOA, today we wouldn't be able to export even a single barrel of oil." Despite the official confirmation of the Vienna nuclear agreement by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, he and his close associates continue to criticize this agreement. In contrast, Mostafa Tajzadeh, the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, criticized this approach of Ayatollah Khamenei and his associates in an open letter from prison, stating that it is expected that the Supreme Leader "takes the side of the majority of the people." The Supreme Leader has accused the U.S. of "betrayal" regarding the JCPOA and has repeatedly stated that the results of the movements of European governments and companies and their negotiations with Iran "have not been tangible so far." Meanwhile, several close associates of Ayatollah Khamenei, including Kazem Sediqi, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, have referred to Western sanctions against Iran as a "blessing." In contrast, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, stated on Wednesday, April 27, without naming anyone, that those who considered sanctions a "blessing from God" are now trying to "bring back sanctions through political sabotage in government affairs" after their defeat in the February 2016 elections. In response to these remarks, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary of Iran, stated on Saturday evening, "The claim that some critics of the JCPOA are seeking to reinstate sanctions is not befitting an experienced politician." In recent days, some conservative media outlets have criticized Rafsanjani's remarks.