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| (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi). Iranian demonstrators pour gasoline on the U.S. British and Israeli flags to set on fire during an annual rally in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran |
Backlash Against U.S. in Iran Gathers Force - Thomas Erdbrink
Anyone who hoped that Iran's nuclear agreement with the U.S. portended a new era of openness with the West has been jolted with a series of increasingly rude awakenings over the past few weeks.
In addition to arrests of American citizens in Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, said the "Death to America" slogan is eternal. New anti-American billboards in Tehran include a mockery of the Iwo Jima flag-raising photograph. And an Iranian knockoff of the American Kentucky Fried Chicken chain was summarily closed after two days.
A backlash against the U.S. appears to be underway.
State-sanctioned media have been producing a litany of American conspiracy theories including the possibility that the CIA was responsible for downing a Russian jetliner in Sinai, and that a "network of American and British spies" has been rounded up. The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, warned that a new sedition was underway involving the U.S. and its "domestic allies."
(New York Times)
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Iran's Clenched Fist to America - Editorial
So much for the Tehran thaw. In recent days Tehran has arrested two U.S. citizens, bringing to five the number of Americans known to be under Iranian lock and key.
The arrests come as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has publicly reaffirmed his regime's commitment to its "Death to America" slogan and set new conditions on the nuclear deal that amount to a unilateral renegotiation. When it comes to the Islamic Republic, international goodwill is invariably met with contempt and cruelty.
In the wake of the nuclear deal, this is a lesson the West will have to learn all over again.
(Wall Street Journal)
In Iran, a Deal and Then a Crackdown - Editorial
The anti-American backlash in Iran since the nuclear deal was signed has gotten so bad that one Iranian-American businessman in Tehran now likens it to a witch hunt. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is fueling the crackdown. He has denounced the U.S. as Iran's chief enemy and warned against what he says is America's intention to infiltrate Iran and attack the country's revolutionary roots.
(New York Times)
Iran Never Approved the Nuclear Deal - Yigal Carmon
The "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" (JCPOA) that was concluded on July 14 in Vienna is neither a contract nor even a real agreement between Iran and the P5+1. It is a set of understandings and disputes compiled into a single document. The JCPOA is characterized by bold prohibitions on Iran that peter out in qualifying terms such as "unless," "except if," and the like. As Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei frequently reiterates, Iran agreed to negotiations mainly to get the sanctions lifted.
In Iran, following discussion in both its Majlis and its Guardian Council, the JCPOA as concluded and announced on July 14 was not approved. The Majlis ratified something else - a set of recommendations to the government of Iran regarding how it should execute the JCPOA. This hardly constitutes approval of the original document.
No one in the West has spoken up about the fraud of Iran's alleged "approval" of the JCPOA. Everyone swallowed the lie, in a spirit of goodwill, in order to allow the JCPOA to proceed, for "peace in our time."
Under the JCPOA, Iran has little time and much to do by Dec. 15. It must dismantle thousands of centrifuges and transfer them to storage monitored by IAEA cameras. It must ship out 9,000 kg. of its enriched uranium to a third country, retaining only 300 kg. It must dismantle and pour cement into the core of the Arak plutonium reactor, and transform the facility into a heavy water reactor. It must notify the IAEA of its voluntary acceptance of the NPT Additional Protocol. And more.
But now Khamenei, in a letter to President Rohani, has dictated nine new conditions for the JCPOA, and declared that if these were not met Iran would stop the agreement. Yet the entire American media - as well as all the U.S. intelligence agencies and think tanks - claimed that Khamenei had approved the agreement.
(MEMRI)
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