This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/world/middleeast/iran.html

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Iranian President Is Hemmed In by Hard-Liners and New Western Sanctions Iranian President Is Hemmed In by Hard-Liners and New Western Sanctions
(about 3 hours later)
TEHRAN — More than a year ago, Iranians danced in the streets, celebrating the surprise victory of a new president who campaigned on promises of more freedom, better relations with the outside world and an end to biting sanctions. Many hoped a new era in the Islamic republic had arrived. TEHRAN — For more than a year, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, had been walking a tightrope by trying to restore relations with the country’s archenemy, the United States. His hard-line opponents pelted him with eggs, but those who voted for him hoped for a possible thaw.
Now, well into the second year of Hassan Rouhani’s presidency, reality has sunk in. Those on the streets have returned to shoulder-shrugging, hoping that at least some of Mr. Rouhani’s promises will be fulfilled. As has often been the case over the last decade, the president has found himself embroiled in rear-guard actions with hard-liners who control most power centers in the country. Mr. Rouhani, a Shiite cleric nicknamed the ‘diplomatic sheikh’ here because of his skills in dealing with foreigners, even held a historic phone call with President Barack Obama, later saying he found him polite and intelligent. Since then he has publicly pleaded to explore open discussions and at least some cooperation with the United States.
On the streets of the middle class neighborhood of Yousef Abad, where lawyers live next to poets and the sidewalks are lined with ice cream shops and stationary stores, the hope of the 2013 election is still alive, although many say they have seriously toned down expectations. But on Saturday Mr. Rouhani struck a starkly different tone, making him sound more like the conservatives who have long criticized him for being too soft on the United States.
“I am not expecting any miracles,” said Nader, a toy store owner who did not give his family name in order to be able to speak freely. “Things just don’t change that easily in Iran.” In a news conference on the occasion of being over a year in office, Mr. Rouhani echoed the long- standing Iranian viewpoint that the United States can never be trusted.
On Saturday, Mr. Rouhani held a news conference that suggested relations with the West had not changed as much as many had expected. It came a day after the Obama administration imposed sanctions on several Iranian organizations, including one managed by a scientist who is believed to direct research on building nuclear weapons. The White House said the new measures were part of its effort to squeeze groups and individuals trying to violate or circumvent existing sanctions. Not only did he rule out any cooperation on fighting regional terrorist groups like the fiercely anti-Iranian Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, he also hinted that America’s actions were responsible for creating the group, as well as Al Qaeda and the Taliban, a mantra among the Iranian leadership.
“Yes, of course, we bypass the sanctions,” Mr. Rouhani said. “We believe they are illegal and crimes against humanity.” He criticized the United States for not taking action on the militants when Syrians were being killed, and only taking steps when it felt Americans and their interests were threatened. “Now they say: “we want to defend our embassy and consulate in Iraq; this is not fighting terrorism,” he said. “The Americans should be ashamed of their words.”
Iran is engaged in international talks over its nuclear program, and while the new sanctions will not derail that effort, Mr. Rouhani said, “they undermine one of the main pillars of the nuclear talks: confidence and trust.” He called the United States the biggest obstacle to finding agreement in the international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. In the complicated world of Iranian politics, it is difficult to know if Mr. Rouhani’s statements — his toughest on the United States in a year — represent a shift in his thinking or are tailored to a domestic audience where hard-liners have been criticizing him harshly for months.
Mr. Rouhani adopted a notably tougher stance toward the United States in his comments. After speaking with President Obama by phone last year, which helped jump-start the nuclear talks, Mr. Rouhani said that he was not sure whether he would go the United Nations General Assembly next month, and had no plans to meet with Mr. Obama if he did attend. It is also possible the speech was a tactical move to strengthen Iran’s position before renewed talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Similarly, after floating the idea of cooperating with the United States to address the chaos in Iraq — an idea that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, quickly shot down — Mr. Rouhani said on Saturday that he had no intention of working with the Americans on the issue. He even accused the United States of creating terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and others in order to destabilize and divide the region, echoing a popular sentiment within the Iranian leadership. Mr. Rouhani’s statements came just a day after the Obama administration imposed new sanctions on Iran, blacklisting 30 people and entities it said are linked to the country’s nuclear program.
“Study must be made on how these terrorist groups were formed,” he said, adding “We haven’t seen any serious determination” from the United States “to fight terrorism.” In a statement, the White House said the sanctions were a continuation of its strategy to crack down on groups suspected of seeking to avoid or violate existing sanctions, even as “the United States remains committed” to striking an accord by late November that includes “a long-term, comprehensive solution that provides confidence that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.”
Many in Iran say that, like presidents before him, Mr. Rouhani is being blocked from carrying out his polices, particularly on the domestic front. But the sanctions appeared to upset Mr. Rouhani.
“They are not allowing him to carry out his work,” said Abolfazl Ale Ahmad, 69, a retired office worker. “They,” he said, are the loose alliance of hard-line clerics and commanders who have clipped the wings of several presidents over the last 15 years, using their interpretation of Islamic ideology to block social changes. “All presidents hit a glass ceiling very quickly, they lack the power to take on their opponents,” he said. “Yes, of course, we bypass the sanctions,” Mr. Rouhani said during his news conference. “We believe they are illegal and crimes against humanity.”
The limits of an Iranian president’s power is well-defined by law. Mr. Rouhani is the highest elected official in the country, he oversees state budgets (but not all), and — among other tasks — signs agreements with other countries (which need to be ratified by Parliament). He added that for relations to improve, the United States must make the first move.
On all important matters, including the nuclear issue, foreign policy and social rules and regulations, Iran’s president needs to take advice from other centers of power. That includes Ayatollah Khamenei, the judiciary and Parliament. “Our people distrust Americans,” he said. “It would be better if Americans could do something that could help to build some trust in the future. Unfortunately, their moves only deepen distrust.”
Still, backed by millions of votes, Iranian presidents have the power to set a political tone. Mr. Rouhani has typically advocated moderation. Critics accuse him of giving away too much ground in the nuclear talks with world powers, which started in November 2013, and they insist that he has no right to alter Iran’s social laws. And although he was one of the political stars of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September, hobnobbing with international leaders who had long shunned Iran, he said Saturday that he had not yet decided whether he would make the trip to the United Nations headquarters in New York. “And I have no plans to meet with Mr. Obama,” he added.
“Many of the president’s promises have not been very well considered,” said Hamid Reza Taraghi, an influential hard-line political analyst. “He promised things that his office has no jurisdiction over.” The historic phone call between the two men came after last year’s United Nations session and started a temporary nuclear agreement in November, under which some parts of Iran’s nuclear program were suspended, along with some sanctions against Iran.
But his fights with hard-liners are merely postponing the arrival of more social freedoms, supporters of the president promise. Mr. Rouhani’s statements come after months in which Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has stepped up his criticism of the United States and said he is pessimistic that the nuclear talks and direct talks with the United States will lead to anything.
“At least he has been doing better than those before him,” said Saeed Laylaz, an economist and adviser to the government, pointing to the fierce responses Mr. Rouhani has made to his critics. Some analysts said Mr. Rouhani’s angry tone might be aimed at pre-empting criticism from influential hard-liners who are seemingly waiting for the right moment to attack the government. Already some hard-liners are calling for an end to the talks because of the new sanctions.
“He is taking brave stances, and has delivered as much as any president can deliver in Iran,” Mr. Laylaz said. Even some of his most optimistic supporters are beginning to say there will be no thaw in relations any time soon. “At least the nuclear talks will continue,” said Mojgan Faraji, a journalist for pro-Rouhani media. “But relations between Iran and America seem almost impossible now.”
Developments in the region have suggested the United States and Iran have increasingly parallel interests, with both countries against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Iran has supported the Iraqi-Kurds and played an important role in persuading Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to give up his bid for a third term, a move the United States supported.
“Still we are not Germany or Turkey, who can work with the U.S.,” said Saeed Laylaz, an economist and government adviser. “In the end we do not have any normal relations with each other.”
Hard-liners are saying they feel vindicated by Mr. Rouhani’s statements on Saturday.
“President Rouhani was realistic today; finally he realized that our supreme leader has been right all the time in his pessimism over the U.S. intentions,” said Hamid Reza Taraghi, a hard-line political analyst with good connections in the office of Ayatollah Khamenei. “Today it is clear that there is only one voice in Iran and that is the voice of Mr. Khamenei.”