IRANIAN HARD-LINERS SAY NUCLEAR ACCORD CROSSES THEIR RED LINES

[In a hastily assembled news conference in Tehran on Thursday, hard-line analysts triumphantly announced they would do the leader’s bidding by examining the agreement for any devious legal tricks or loopholes the “arrogant” nations might be trying to slip into the text.]

By Thomas Erdbrink

 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, issued in June a list of seven "major red lines" 

that should not be crossed in a nuclear agreement. Credit Office of the Iranian Supreme 

Leader, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

TEHRAN — When Iran’s supreme leader sent a note to the country’s president, thanking him for bringing the nuclear negotiations with the United States and other world powers to a conclusion, he added an important caveat. The comprehensive plan needs “close scrutiny,” the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote, adding: “Be concerned about possible violations of the commitments in the accord by other parties.”

The tone of the letter might have seemed friendly to those not familiar with the supreme leader’s style, said Hamidreza Taraghi, a political analyst close to Ayatollah Khamenei.

“But the reaction was cold,” he said. “Notice how he only thanked the negotiators but did not congratulate them on a victory. Our leader is worried about several points in the deal.”

Prominent hard-liners, previously muzzled on the nuclear talks, took the letter as a signal that they were free to criticize the deal.

In a hastily assembled news conference in Tehran on Thursday, hard-line analysts triumphantly announced they would do the leader’s bidding by examining the agreement for any devious legal tricks or loopholes the “arrogant” nations might be trying to slip into the text.

“We are here to help the government,” said Foad Izadi, a professor of public diplomacy at the University of Tehran. “But it is clear there are serious problems with this agreement.”

While not wanting to get too far ahead of the supreme leader, who will give a speech Saturday at the end of Ramadan, the hard-liners’ strategy has been to examine the accord to see whether it violates any of the seven “major red lines” set by Ayatollah Khamenei in a statement published by his office on June 23.

So when some Iranians danced in the streets on Tuesday celebrating a deal that most saw as a way to finally get the economic sanctions lifted, hard-liners turned off their phones, took up their magnifying glasses and began checking the 159 pages of the plan drawn up in Vienna.

They were disturbed by what they found. “We quickly realized that what we had feared all the time had become a reality,” said Alireza Mataji, an organizer of the Tehran event. “If Iran agrees with this our nuclear industry will be handcuffed for many years to come.”

In the list of major red lines, Ayatollah Khamenei had said that he strongly opposed long-term restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. “Despite United States insistence, we do not accept 10, 12-year-long restrictions, and the negotiators are already informed about an acceptable time-frame,” he said.

In the “Joint Plan of Action” presented by Iran and the world powers on Tuesday, the hard-liners say, many of the restrictions go far beyond 10 or 12 years.

Several parts of the deal end after 10 years. But it calls for a 15-year restriction on any enrichment activities in the underground bunker complex of Fordo. Iran is also barred from accumulating heavy water or building a heavy water reactor for a period of 15 years. Nor will it be allowed to reprocess any spent fuel or conduct research on spent fuel.

“That they constantly repeat time frames of 15 years or 25 years for some topics is not accepted,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on June 23, spelling out red line No. 7, according to his office.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, will monitor the production of uranium ore concentrate for 25 years, the document says.

In the same statement, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that he does not accept verification by the atomic agency, red line No. 5. “They claim that the I.A.E.A. must confirm,” he said. “What a nonsense statement is it?”

At the news conference on Thursday, Mr. Izadi said he had counted a total of 19 red lines by the supreme leader. “Out of those, 18 and a half have been crossed,” he said. “They wanted to completely close Fordo, but we have managed to keep it open, without any enrichment unfortunately. That is one achievement.”

A handful of reporters, all writing for hard-line news outlets, wrote down every word.

In the statement, Ayatollah Khamenei ruled out the inspection of military sites. Red line No. 6, his office noted. “I never accept unconventional inspections or interrogation of individuals,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “I have already asserted that no inspection of military sites can ever be done.”

Under the agreement, international inspectors should be granted access to suspicious nuclear facilities in a maximum of 24 days, even if they are military sites.

At the news conference, a professor of political science and international relations, Mohammad Sadegh Koshki, said that even a confirmation of the deal by the United Nations Security Council is a bad move for Iran. Iran’s government says that a new resolution would make it harder for the United States Congress to reject the deal.

But Mr. Koshki, who regularly appears on state television, said that it would turn the permanent members of the Security Council into arbitrators, ultimately deciding whether Iran was sticking to its commitments.

“How can Iran complain against the people it made a deal with when they occupy the permanent seats of the Security Council,” he said. “The text is also full of ambiguous words regarding the lifting of the sanctions. We must study this very carefully.”

It is possible that the red lines were part of Iran’s negotiating strategy, designed to get the best possible deal, and will now be forgotten, said one analyst, who insisted on not being named in discussing the supreme leader’s role. “Mr. Khamenei is the ultimate balancer of Iran’s factions,” the analyst said, “don’t take the red lines too seriously.”

He added: “This entire process was started by the supreme leader. He has monitored and guided these talks all these years. He knows this is the best deal he could get.”

@ The New York Times