Israel Could Accept US-Iran Nuclear 'Understanding', Top Lawmaker Says

Referring to Iran's rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, Rouhani said during a recent meeting with his aides, "It is good that everyone in Iran has understood that you cannot write slogans on missiles, set fire to embassies and make trouble."

Rouhani was referring to the IRGC's behavior following the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with the West when they wrote "Death to Israel" on missiles they tested, and the conservative-led vigilantes' behavior in an arson attack on the embassy of Saudi Arabia in January 2016 which led to the severance of ties between Tehran and Riyadh for seven years.

The Obama administration concluded the JCPOA agreement hoping to restrict Iran’s nuclear program and open the door to more moderating diplomatic interaction.

The nuclear deal was concluded during Rouhani’s term in office (2013-2021), who is considered a pragmatist and a moderate compared to many other regime insiders.

But both the permission to conclude the deal and the extremist behavior by hardliners were condoned by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The first was to lift international sanctions, and the second was to continue his anti-West, anti-Israel policies.

Meanwhile, in a reference to the resumption of ties with Saudi Arabia and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's recent statement about cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, Rouhani welcomed "the agreements with the IAEA and Saudi Arabia."

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Speaking on domestic politics and the political impasse created by hardliners restricting voters’ choices in parliamentary and presidential elections, Rouhani said: "What determines the country's fate is the people's vote. Everyone in this country acknowledges the power of votes. Without the people's vote we cannot solve any problem."

He added that Iran's population is 85 million and the government should stop keeping only three million of them happy.

Rouhani was alluding to the rule of minority following the consolidation of conservatives' political power after the 2020 parliamentary elections and the 2021 presidential election in which reformist and moderate candidates were barred from running.

Rouhani said: "Five months have passed since the protests in Iran. What have we done during these five months? It is not enough that the streets are calm. We should look for solutions for social problems to prevent further unrest." Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the political situation cannot be corrected overnight as structural changes are required to make the people happy.

Meanwhile, in a message to the congress of the National Development Party, former ‘reformist’ President Mohammad Khatami also pointed out roughly the same issues. Echoing Rouhani, Khatami said: "Had the nuclear deal been revived two years ago, we would have profited substantially. Nonetheless, anything that can improve the situation a little bit is desirable."

Meanwhile, he called on the government to respect the people's views and votes and their right to determine their fate. Khatami said in his message that "there is more fear and concern than hope in the Iranian society today." Like Rouhani, Khatami also advised that "the people need hope, they need to see an improvement in their political and financial situation."

He said the government's new approach to foreign policy that was manifested in the resumption of ties with Saudi Arabia was an example of what is needed to being about positive change in Iran.

Some of Iran's political observers, including Abolfazl Hassanbeigi, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war and a former populist member of parliament, told a local website that the situation is ripe for rapprochement with the West, adding that US President Joe Biden needs a winning chip for his re-election campaign, even a short-term agreement with Iran.

Hassanbeigi opined that such a short-term and limited agreement will be mutually beneficial for both Iran and the United States. He claimed US officials have realized that their approach to Iran during recent years has weakened the United States and strengthened Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian welcomed the Saudi delegation on their arrival and then held talks with his Arab counterpart.

The two were going to have joint press conference when bin Farhan refused to speak under Qassem Soleimani’s picture.

Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) extra-territorial Quds Force, was killed in Baghdad along with nine others in 2020 by a drone strike ordered by former US President Donald Trump.

The Qods Force under Soleimani became deeply involved in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, setting up militant proxy militias.

After the press conference was relocated, bin Farhan said his country's relations with Iran are based on the principles of non-interference in each other's internal affairs. He added that Tehran-Riyadh cooperation is important in ensuring the safety of navigation in the region and on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

In turn, Amir-Abdollahian claimed that according to the Islamic Republic security is not the same as militarism.

According to reports, the Saudi minister may also meet with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who just returned from a Latin American tour.

A deal brokered by China in March ended a diplomatic rift between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and re-established relations following years of hostility that threatened regional stability in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon.

On June 7, Iran reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia.

In 2016, protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran in retaliation for Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, which led to Riyadh severing its ties with Tehran.

“We warned the Afghan rulers that they should train their forces and be watchful of their acts, otherwise Iran's border guards defend national interests and do not allow anyone to violate the security of borders,” said Ahmad Vahidi on Saturday.

In the past days, there were some issues, but they were dealt with forcefully to maintain security at the borders, said Vahidi who is an ex-IRGC general, wanted by Interpol for his role in the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994.

“Of course, terrorists try to abuse the tensions at borders, but they should be aware that they will be punished for their actions.”

In late May, clashes at the border over water rights claimed the lives of at least two Iranians and one Taliban soldier.

Disputes between Tehran and Kabul have risen over Taliban’s refusal to share the waters of the Helmand River in violation of a 1973 treaty.

Iran's parched eastern regions is seriously threatened if the Taliban prevent water from reaching Iran. Another Iranian official said Saturday that Kabul has agreed to allow Iranian experts examine the water reservoirs inside Afghanistan.

Earlier in May, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned the Taliban over disregarding Iran's water rights under the 1973 treaty. The Taliban rejected Raisi's apparent threat, with a former Taliban official mocking Raisi in a video that went viral.

The government’s official news website IRNA in a long report Saturday highlighted Raisi’s trip to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, with the headline of “35 cooperation agreements signed under America’s nose.”

Iranian officials and government media have been emphasizing the significance of the three-nation tour as a challenge to the US “in America’s backyard.”

However, Iran is in relative international isolation as no Western countries and allies invite Iranian leaders or visit the country themselves. The three Latin American countries Raisi visited are also struggling economically under US sanctions and leftist ideological rule.

Raisi emphasized during his trip solidarity against the United States and cooperation to overcome sanctions.

During his meeting with Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel Raisi said, "The conditions and circumstances in which Cuba and Iran find themselves today have many things in common. Every day our relations grow stronger."

The Cuban president also praised close ties with Iran. "Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran are among the countries that have had to heroically confront sanctions...threats, blockades and interference by Yankee imperialism and its allies with a tenacious resistance, This visit reinforced our conviction that we have in Iran a friendly nation in the Middle East, with which to confide...and talk about the most complex global issues."

However, there is little in economic cooperation and trade the three countries can achieve with Iran, which faces a serious economic crisis, with by 70-percent inflation and a battered currency.

In an editorial on Friday, WSJ said the reported deal taking shape is not what President Joe Biden promised when he embarked on talks with the Islamic Republic in early 2021.

Biden had promised a “longer and stronger” agreement, the Journal said, “Now, in a remarkable retreat, the Biden Administration is pursuing an unwritten ‚understanding‘ with Iran to get to the brink of a nuclear breakout but go no further.“

The Biden administration has denied any deals with Iran, acknowledging that contacts were made to convey US demands. The latest denial came from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday during a press conference.

“With regard to Iran, some of the reports that we’ve seen about an agreement on nuclear matters or, for that matter, on detainees are simply not accurate and not true,” Blinken said.

The WSJ says that in the deal taking shape Iran will keep all of its 60-percent enriched uranium, without clarity about international monitoring of its nuclear activities, while Tehran can break the unwritten “understanding” over any issue in the future.

The editorial also criticized a deal earlier this month that allows Iraq to release $2.7 billion of Iran’s frozen funds ostensibly for spending mainly on food imports.

"The Administration says Iran will spend the Iraqi funds only on food and medicine, as if money isn’t fungible. In reality the U.S. is freeing up billions of dollars that will finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its imperialism across the Middle East," the editorial said.