NUCLEAR DEAL CLEARS HURDLE, BUT IRANIAN REACTION IS MUTED

[Still, many Iranians have been waiting a long time for this moment. Since a breakthrough phone call between Mr. Obama and President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, Iranians have been forced to endure a slow-moving process that they hope will allow the country to shed the role of perpetual global outsider that it has played since the 1979 revolution.]

By Thomas Erdbrink

TEHRAN — The landmark nuclear deal between Iran and the global powers has long been sought by many here, but any jubilation over the news that the accord had cleared a crucial hurdle in Washington was muted.

“It’s Friday in Iran,” said Saeed Laylaz, an economist, explaining the subdued reaction. He, along with many others, was focusing on the traditional, opulent family lunch that usually takes up most of Friday — comparable to Sunday in the West.

“When the workweek starts on Saturday, expect positive reactions,” he said. “This is, after all, what we have all been waiting for.”

As a result, there were almost no visible signs of excitement among the capital’s 12 million residents even though President Obama could soon start the process of lifting sanctions against Iran.

Still, many Iranians have been waiting a long time for this moment. Since a breakthrough phone call between Mr. Obama and President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, Iranians have been forced to endure a slow-moving process that they hope will allow the country to shed the role of perpetual global outsider that it has played since the 1979 revolution.

“I don’t want to think about this deal any longer,” said Gity Heidarian, 28, a teacher, summing up the feelings of many here. “I just want it to be implemented and move on.”

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, last week ordered Parliament to review the agreement, but few expect to see serious resistance from Iranian lawmakers.

State television’s 24-hour news channel only briefly mentioned the decision in Congress on Friday morning, choosing instead to show a long discussion in the parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the agreement.

Members of the committee questioned a former nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, about the deal. Mr. Jalili, a hard-liner like most of the panel members, did not like the deal, and neither did his audience.

“If a single country complains about Iran, the sanctions will return,” he said. “We have accepted oversight beyond our commitments made in the agreement.”

The simmering discontent could play out during the execution of the agreement, or if sanctions are not lifted soon enough according to the taste of the Iranian leaders.

One hard-line analyst, who is close to Ayatollah Khamenei, said that Parliament was flagging possible problems in the deal in case there are issues later. “We will hear more about Parliament’s role when we reach the next phase of the agreement: the implementation,” said the analyst, Hamidreza Taraghi.

At the same time, the review potentially carries benefits to supporters of the nuclear accord by giving an air of legitimacy to it, one politician said.

“Some may say that this agreement was imposed if Parliament does not examine it,” said Mohsen Rezaie, the secretary of the Expediency Council, an organization that settles disputes between Parliament and other veto-wielding councils, according to his website.

Supporters of the government and Mr. Rouhani say such measures are unnecessary.

“Our Parliament is not important at all,” Mr. Laylaz said. “Our top leaders support this agreement, including our supreme leader. That is all that matters.”

At Friday Prayer, there was no clear reference to the breakthrough in Congress, although a prayer leader, Ayatollah Mohammed Ali Movahedi-Kermani, speaking at Tehran University, warned the United States that any attempt to alter the agreement would be met with similar Iranian countermeasures.

“America is the same as before, a bullying power,” he said. “They say the sanctions can snap back into place, and they say, ‘The regime in Iran should change.’ But they should know that we never accept humiliation.”

“They say the sanctions are reversible; we say our activities are reversible,” he added, drawing cheers of “Death to America” from the crowd.

@ The New York Times