Iran’s hardliners step up attacks on Rouhani over nuclear talks

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency began a two-day trip to Tehran on Monday as Iran’s hardliners strengthened their attacks against negotiations on the country’s nuclear programme.

A group of conservative parliamentarians calling themselves “The Concerned” this weekend gave fiery speeches attacking President Hassan Rouhani over the talks.

“Mr Rouhani! Where are you taking the country?” thundered Alireza Zakani, an influential hardline MP, in parliament on Sunday. “We are concerned and consider any agreement that restricts our right to enrich uranium and limits the level of enrichment . . . null and void.”

Another MP, Mohammad-Javad Ghodoosi, appeared to hint that the president could face impeachment, warning the government that executive power could be “pulled from under its feet” should it “stretch its legs beyond its carpet” on foreign and domestic issues.

The speeches mark the latest attacks against Mr Rouhani, who came to office last summer promising to improve the economy and end the country’s international isolation. His success will depend on whether he will be able to turn the interim nuclear agreement signed last November into a long-term deal, ending a decade-long stand-off with the international community and lifting sanctions that are crippling Iran’s economy.

This week’s IAEA inspection is part of measures agreed in February by Iran and the nuclear powers – the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. It comes as Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran Atomic Energy Agency, which is in charge of technical aspects of the nuclear programme, said at the weekend that the heavy-water reactor at Arak would be “redesigned” to lower the level of plutonium it produces. The next round of negotiations is due to begin May 13 in Vienna and a final deal must be agreed by July 20.

Iran’s hardliners, desperate to prevent Mr Rouhani from winning a second term in office, cannot directly sabotage the nuclear negotiations, which have the backing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader and ultimate decision-maker.

Instead, they lash out in other ways, loudly condemning – and blocking – his economic, cultural and political policies from their bases in parliament, the judiciary, the state broadcaster and the revolutionary guards.

“Rouhani’s lack of success in the nuclear deal would be a serious failure for him which could even lead to the collapse of his government before he finishes his four-year term [in 2017],” said Hamid-Reza Taraghi, a conservative politician. “But should he achieve a nuclear deal, he could be re-elected for a second term.”

Mr Taraghi, who insisted that he backed a lasting nuclear accord, acknowledged that “radical” groups in both conservative and reformist camps wanted Mr Rouhani to fail in negotiations so his government would be shortlived.

Mr Rouhani on Sunday hit back at his critics, accusing them of benefiting from international sanctions while most Iranians were struggling.

“If anyone likes [the continuation of] sanctions, he should explain why,” he said. “As soon as we say we seek constructive interaction with the world, they [hardliners] say ‘oh, you want to compromise with the world?’. No! We want to fight with the world and take out daggers! Of course we want to talk to the world.”

Iran’s parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, who is a strong supporter of nuclear talks, also joined the president in warning that “the country is not in normal conditions”, calling for “internal convergence” to back nuclear negotiators.

“Can this infighting turn into bread and water for people?” he asked.

Hardline attacks on the president have increased in recent weeks. They include I am Rouhani, a documentary that purports to examine decades of Mr Rouhani’s political activities. It hints at duplicity, implying that he defied Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the 1979 Islamic revolution, by participating in secret negotiations with the US in the 1980s.

Hardliners are also accused of provoking a riot in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison last month. Within the past fortnight the judiciary also briefly shut down another reformist newspaper, Ebtekar – the third since Mr Rouhani swept to power last summer.

Mr Rouhani’s wife, Sahebeh Arabi, has also been attacked for inviting spouses of foreign ambassadors to a reception to mark the birthday of Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Mohammad at the end of last month. Conservative media compared the allegedly lavish reception with the hardship Iranians are facing with inflation at nearly 33 per cent and youth unemployment of 24 per cent.

“The Hardliners are like someone who is drowning and grabbing any weed,” said Saeed Laylaz, a reformist political analyst. “All the new attacks are part of the power struggle as hardliners know they will see a very different and tough Rouhani when the nuclear deal is signed.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014.