Iran: Promises by Rouhani’s Government Are Emptier Than Ever
NCRI/ Monday, 23 January 2017
– Referring to the nuclear deal anniversary, Khamenei’s representative in Sistan and Baluchestan province said that “today, we see that there’s an increasing youth unemployment, economic problems have deepened and the government’s promises are emptier than ever.”
Speaking in Zahedan on January 20, Abbasali Soleimani added that “it should be investigated which side did win the negotiations. Prior to the nuclear deal, we had 11,800 kg of enriched uranium, thousands of centrifuges and the balancing power in the soft war, all of which have decreased following the nuclear deal.”
“Some government officials maintained following the nuclear deal that today we have the trump card, shadow of war has been removed from the country and that there will be an economic breakthrough…. Now, however, it should be asked which economic problem has been resolved, which transactions has been facilitated and which investment has been freed due to the nuclear deal?”, added Soleimani.
Also Mullah Kazem Sadighi said in this regard in Tehran’s Friday prayers that “following the nuclear deal, some tried to prettify it by expressing optimism and encouragement, believing that all the economic problems were going to be resolved within a year. The sanctions were supposed to be lifted. Today, however, economic recession, youth unemployment and closure of manufacturing plants are still going on, and the problem is that not only the previous sanctions have not been lifted, but new ones have been introduced as well.”
Also Khamenei’s representative in Khorasan Razavi province, Mullah Alam-ol-Hoda, attacked the nuclear deal and Rouhani’s foreign policy in Mashhad’s Friday prayers, saying that “not only is the country’s interaction-based policy a failed policy, but it will bring the nation (regime) nothing but misery and destroy the regime and revolution if kept being followed.
The result of nuclear deal was that the number of our centrifuges decreased from 20,000 to just 5,000, our 20 percent uranium enrichment was reduced to 3 percent and our 11,000 kg of enriched uranium reserve was down to 300 kg. Arak’s heavy water reactor was removed only to be filled with concrete.”
Ukraine Seizes Iran-Bound Plane ‘Carrying Missiles’
Al Arabiya/January 23/17
Ukraine has announced that it has seized an airplane destined for Iran loaded with arms at Kiev’s Zhulyany Airport. The plane was reported on Sunday carrying Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles. The Russian agency Interfax confirmed that the weapons were discovered by Ukraine’s border police in Kiev’s airport following a search of 17 containers that were not registered in the flight’s cargo manifesto. A spokesman said that three containers were found to be storing the missiles – which are light weight, infrared guided anti-tank missiles – while the remaining storage boxes contained airplane spare parts. During an investigation, the airliner’s crew members – whose origin of either Iranian or Ukrainian has yet to be confirmed – denied knowledge of the weapons shipment. The shipment was later confiscated by Ukrainian authorities for violating international law governing the transport of goods and weapons. Most UN sanctions on Iran were lifted a year ago under a deal Iran made with Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, the United States and the European Union to curb its nuclear program. But Iran is still subject to an arms embargo and other restrictions, which are not technically part of the nuclear agreement.
