President Rouhani campaigned on Wednesday for support in the nuclear talks, trying to push back the mounting effort of hardline critics.
Rouhani, touring Ilam Province in western Iran, told veterans and officials:
The administration and the brave (negotiators) have the support of the Supreme Leader and the nation in nuclear talks…..

The world today is forced to accept that the only way to deal with Iran is interaction; this nation does not bow to pressure and sanctions…..

The (West) should pursue the path of logic, dialogue, and negotiations, because they do not have any other rational choice.
Rouhani’s latest speech comes amid expert-level talks in New York on a comprehensive nuclear agreement, ahead of the resumption of negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 Powers in Vienna on May 13.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who leads Iran’s negotiators, said in an interview in Tehran with The Guardian:
There are spoilers everywhere who don’t want an agreement, there are dark forces who don’t like this process … It is clear some people don’t want to resolve this issue in a peaceful and logical way.

I don’t want to use the word ‘warmongers’. But these people want continuing tension, a continuing crisis in our region. They don’t want the sanctions on Iran to end. They don’t want Iran to be a major player in this region, although in fact it already is.
Understandably, The Guardian interprets the remarks as being aimed at Israel. However, Araqchi’s comments echo Rouhani’s jab at “illiterate” critics at home, claiming that some of them have profited from the US-led sanctions.

On Saturday hardline politicians, clerics, and officials — including the Endurance Front, the most vocal bloc challenging the Government — stepped up pressure with the “We Are Worried” rally at the former US Embassy.

(h/t Iran Tracker for translation)



Photos: Women’s Protest Against “Deterioration of Modesty and Hejab Culture”
Women protest on Wednesday in Tehran against the claimed deterioration of modesty in fashion and hejab, the covering of the head:




Labor Activists Still Detained After May Day Arrests
Two leading workers’ rights activists, arrested by security forces in Tehran at a May 1 rally, remain in prison.

Jafaar Azimzadeh, President of the Free Workers Union of Iran, and Jamil Mohammadi, a member of the Union, have been transferred to Evin Prison’s Ward 209 for interrogations, according to the FWUI.

More than 25 workers were detained last Thursday during gathering in front of the Labor Ministry and the Azadi Square bus station. Activists claims some at the rally were beaten.
Qanoon Newspaper Shut Down
The Qanoon newspaper was shut down on Wednesday by the Tehran prosecutor’s office for “publishing falsehoods causing public disturbance and material against Islamic principles”.

Qanoon’s publishers says its offense was to report that Mohammad Royanian, the former Chief of Fuel Distribution Administration, has been released on bail of $30 million.

Royanian, a former Revolutionary Guards commander and manager of the leading Iranian football club Perspolis, has been charged with corruption and financial fraud relating to his leadership of the Administration.
Oil Minister Warns That China Could Be Removed From More Projects
Days after Iran cancelled a $2.5 billion contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has warned that the Chinese could be removed from other projects.

On the surface, Zanganeh gave a reassurance on the sidelines of an oil industry event in Tehran on Tuesday, “We still have cooperation with the Chinese in some projects. We haven’t stopped working with them.”

The Minister said that CNPC was still involved in the North Azadegan project on the Iraq border.

However, he then warned that the Chinese firm could be ejected from there, joining the cancellation of the project for South Azadegan, “In those parts that they were inadequate, we told them not to work there.”

Asked if he was satisfied with CNPC’s work, Zanganeh said: “No.”

See Revolutionary Guards Lash Out at Oil Minister over Foreign Investment
European Union: Expert-Level Nuclear Talks in New York “Useful”
A European Union spokesman has said that two days of expert-level nuclear talks in New York have been “useful”.

The discussions on technical matters precede the fourth round of negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 Powers on a comprehensive nuclear agreement, beginning on May 13 in Vienna.

The remarks came after two days of expert-level talks in New York between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia on a long-term accord that would end a decade-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions by a self-imposed July 20 deadline.

The spokesman said, “The talks aimed at further deepening of the knowledge on the issues and to contribute to the preparations for the next round of negotiations.”

The expert-level talks were chaired by Iranian Foreign Ministry official Hamad Baeidinejad and Stephen Clement, an aide to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

An unnamed Western diplomat said progress had been made on the status Iran’s under-construction Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor.

Senior Iranian officials have indicated a willingnees to re-design Arak to limit its production of plutonium by-product, which Western countries fear could be used in a militarized nuclear program.

However, the official said compromise over the number and level of Iran’s centrifuges for uranium enrichment was “more difficult”.

By EA WorldView

 

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