Temporary Imam of Tehran Supports Lausanne Agreement

One of the temporary Friday prayer leaders of Tehran referred to Iran's nuclear agreement with global powers as a 'success' and considered the Iranian nation and the negotiating team as 'essential factors' in achieving this 'success.' According to him, the Leader of the Islamic Republic 'supports all these factors.' According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Mohammad Imami Kashani, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran, emphasized on Friday, April 3, that 'the leadership supports all these factors.' He added: 'Honestly, the negotiating team is composed, wise, and dignified, and acted as the Supreme Leader mentioned regarding heroic flexibility.' 'Heroic flexibility' is a term previously used by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, regarding the nuclear negotiations between Iran and global powers during Hassan Rouhani's administration. His support for the nuclear agreement with global powers comes while Hamid Rouhani, the speaker before the Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, stated that 'the Iranian nation is still worried and concerned about the nuclear negotiations.' According to Fars News Agency, Mr. Rouhani pointed to the joint final statement of the Lausanne negotiations, stating that 'this statement not only did not alleviate the concerns of the Iranian nation but increased them.' The speaker before the Friday prayer sermon added: 'Let it not be that with these negotiations and the publication of such statements, the aspirations of the Iranian nation are trampled upon, the blood of martyrs is trampled upon. Let it not be that the goal of the Iranian nation, which is the slogan that nuclear energy is our inalienable right, is lost.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, has previously emphasized that he trusts the Iranian nuclear negotiating team but is concerned about what he described as the 'cunningness' of the opposing side. However, some close associates of the Leader of the Islamic Republic and conservative representatives in Parliament have strongly criticized the Iranian nuclear negotiating team after the Lausanne nuclear agreement. Among them, Ismail Kowsari, a representative from Tehran in Parliament, stated that the Iranian nuclear negotiating team has only been 'wasting time' and 'making slogans' over the past year. According to Tasnim News Agency, he emphasized: 'America achieved all its demands in the Lausanne statement, but Iran did not achieve its main demand, which was the complete lifting of sanctions.' Meanwhile, Mohammad Kazem Anbarlooie, head of the political center of the Islamic Coalition Party, also stated that the opposing side showed the least flexibility against what he called 'Iran's generosity.' Hussein Shariatmadari, representative of the Leader of the Islamic Republic in the Kayhan newspaper, also said just hours after Iran's nuclear agreement with global powers in Lausanne, Switzerland, that 'we have given the saddled horse and received the torn reins.' The remarks of critics of the Lausanne agreement come while members of Hassan Rouhani's government and supporters of the government refer to this agreement as a 'victory' for the Islamic Republic. Among them, Mohammad Nahavandian, head of the Iranian President's office, as the speaker before the Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, stated that 'our friends' are happy with the Lausanne agreement and 'the enemies of this nation are angry with this agreement and its results.' According to the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), he emphasized that with the Lausanne agreement, the world has 'accepted the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities.' Mr. Nahavandian added: 'All our activities, whether in Natanz, Arak, and Fordow, are ongoing and will continue, and research and development in advanced nuclear physics will never stop, and this has also been acknowledged by the opposing side in this statement.' Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, stated that based on this agreement, Iran will 'limit its enrichment process' for ten years with 'specific conditions,' but 'the Natanz site will continue its enrichment.' The Imam of Tehran on Friday warned the President of the United States: 'If you break the pact, Iran will also break its pact. Do not break the pact and do not record this breach in your history.' Mr. Imami Kashani added: 'Do not bring up some irrelevant words like terrorism... Do not bring up these nonsensical words. Do not bring up discussions about freedom and the judiciary, these irrelevant words.' Barack Obama, the President of the United States, described the Lausanne agreement as 'historic,' while emphasizing that Washington's concerns about Iran remain: as a government that still supports terrorism, has hands in the instability of the Middle East, and threatens America's allies and friends, such as Israel.