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May 3, 2019

Deputy Foreign Minister Says Iran on Cusp of Leaving JCPOA

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Deputy FM Says Iran on Cusp of Leaving JCPOA

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated during a trip to Turkey that the JCPOA was under threat and that Iran might leave the deal at any moment. He stated: “America is trying hard to provoke Iran to leave the JCPOA. They first left the JCPOA and then reimposed sanctions. Then they ended their waivers that gave eight countries permission to import Iranian oil … the Americans seek to force Iran to the negotiating table and to reach a ‘better deal.’ This is a funny policy, that by leaving a deal you can reach a better deal.”

Araghchi added: “What America must know is that Iran will not negotiate under pressure, and I think no country would.”

Araghchi said that the JCPOA was nearing its end. He proclaimed: “Unfortunately, the JCPOA is very, very close to its end. As I have said, the JCPOA belongs to the international community and it is withering away. It is unfortunate that it should end, but its end will not be Iran’s fault.

Araghchi said that Iran has up until now exercised patience with regard to the Trump administration’s policies. He stated: “Iran could have left the JCPOA one year ago. However, it gave the international community, from Europe to the other parties of the deal to the UN Security Council, one year to find a way to save the deal but they could not do this. This is a defeat for everyone.”

Aragchi also asserted that Iran sought stability in the region, stating: “Iran seeks peace and stability in the region. We have done our share to realize this in the region. From Afghanistan to Iraq to elsewhere in the region we have fought terrorism and have come to the help of our neighbors.”

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Iran Executes Two Minors

Amnesty International reported that two Iranian youths under the age of 18 were executed in Adelabad prison in Shiraz on April 25th. Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat were arrested at the age of 15 and convicted on multiple rape charges. According to Amnesty, their sentences were carried out in secret without their families being notified, a fact that “reinforces the organization’s concern that the real number of executions of juvenile offenders in the country is actually higher than the figure it has recorded.” Their executions were also not covered by Iranian media.

According to Amnesty, Iran has executed 97 individuals under the age of 18 between 1990 and 2018 in violation of the international conventions to which it is party. This includes the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran ratified in 1994 but on the condition that “if the text of the Convention is or becomes incompatible with the domestic laws and Islamic standards at any time or in any case, the Government of the Islamic Republic shall not abide by it.”

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May Day Protestors Arrested Outside Parliament

On May Day, workers protested outside the Iranian parliament in response to a call from the “Independent Worker Organizations.” The demonstration resulted in a confrontation with the police and more than 30 protestors were arrested. The demonstration was simultaneous with a government ceremony involving labors groups such as the “House of Workers” and the “Islamic Council of Work” organization.

Teachers, retirees, and students also protested alongside the workers outside of parliament in solidarity. The text of the statement from the Independent Worker Organizations calling for the demonstration cited issues such as “low or delayed wages, widespread and unsuccessful privatization, and pressure on unions and labor organizations.”

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Khamenei Says U.S. in a “War Posture”

On May 1st, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei declared that Iran is faced with a “war posture from the enemy” and that the Iranian people must assume a reciprocal “posture.” Khamenei said the United States and Israel are pursuing aggressive political and economic policies and seek to harm Iran through “intelligence infiltration” and “social media.”

However, Khamenei added that the “enemy’s war posture” was not of a military nature. He stated: “From what it appears, the enemy does not have a war posture militarily. However, our military forces must be vigilant. Against the war posture of the enemy, the people must also take the appropriate posture.”

Khamenei added: “Against this war posture, the people have to take a war posture as well. The most important thing is to preserve complete unity and solidarity. Everyone should be careful to not oppose each other over small differences regarding their preferences. The strength of this nation and what gives it pride is its solidarity.

On May 1st, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army, declared that the Iranian army must take its level of readiness to the level of “the night before an attack.”

Khamenei also emphasized that the current U.S. pressure faced by Iran is not “specific to the current U.S. administration.” He proclaimed that the Obama administration “did the same things with a velvet glove.” He went on: “The current U.S. administration has helped us by taking off this glove and now everyone can see the hidden iron hands under their gloves.”

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Rouhani Says Iran has Other Ways to Export Oil

On April 30th, President Rouhani said in a speech in Tehran that the U.S. would be unable to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero. Rouhani declared that through economic pressure and reducing Iran’s oil exports, the U.S. seeks to reduce the Iranian government’s revenues but that “with the help of God, we will bring America to its knees.”

Rouhani stated that “preventing Iranian oil exports and reducing it to zero reflects incorrect thinking and an incorrect decision by the Americans.” He added that in the coming months, the U.S. will see that “Iran will continue exporting oil.”

Rouhani added: “The Americans might have closed one route [for Iran to export its oil]. But this action doesn’t only have one route that America can bring all its pressure on the route to close it. We have six other routes that they don’t know about. We will export oil with strength.”

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IRGC General Soleimani & Other Officials Reject Negotiations with the US

Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander the IRGC’s extraterritorial Qods Force, has proclaimed that negotiations with the U.S. would “utter submission against the enemy.” Soleimani was speaking at a gathering of local police commanders and stated that America intends to bring Iran to a “negotiating table” with its pressure and that such negotiations would be tantamount to “utter submission.”

Soleimani’s comment comes after Foreign Minister Zarif’s trip to New York City last week, where he publicly expressed Iran’s willingness for a prisoner swap with the United States. Soleimani further stated: “By using the two levers of pressure and economic sanctions and disrupting the country’s security, the enemy seeks to hurt us and is using all of its capabilities towards this end.”

Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani has also stated that negotiations with the U.S. would be a “strategic mistake” and said that American rhetoric was one of “submission and humiliation.” Larijani added: “Some thoughtlessly say that we should negotiate. Negotiations with this person [Donald Trump] have no meaning.”

However, Larijani said that Iran was not opposed to negotiations with Saudi Arabia. He stated: “We haven’t said that we shouldn’t negotiate with Saudi Arabia. They are going on the wrong path but we still haven’t closed the door on negotiations.”

On May 3rd, Tehran’s Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami also sharply denounced the idea of renewed U.S.-Iran negotiations. Khatami stated that negotiations under the current circumstances “meant submission” and that with Trump, if Iran “took one step back, he would take ten steps forward.”

Khatami also stated that Iran was in the midst of an “economic war” and that now was the time for “resistance.” He denounced Trump as “insane,” a “thief,” and “ignorant.” He also said accused the U.S. government of being the “stupidest in the world,” but stated that “we have no fight with the American people.”

Ali Motahari, the conservative deputy parliamentary speaker known for his more pragmatic and moderate political stances, also stated that in the “current conditions negotiations with America are not expedient.”

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