May 15, 2017

The nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers ended a decadeslong crisis that removed sanctions on nearly 80 million Iranians and potentially averted another military confrontation in the Middle East involving the United States. The talks to reach agreement on a deal required bilateral negotiations between Iran and the United States, at the foreign ministerial level, breaking a three-decade taboo on direct negotiations between the two countries.

While it was clear that US President Barack Obama had sought an opening with Iran — he shook hands with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif behind closed doors in New York — Iran’s leadership, in particular the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, never trusted the opposing side enough to allow discussions to go beyond the nuclear file.

Today, with the United States continuing to maintain non-nuclear sanctions against Iran, thus hindering foreign investment in the country, President Hassan Rouhani is making a pitch, to the public and to Khamenei, to pursue additional talks with Washington to resolve outstanding issues.

“With a wall of sanctions, they created distance between ‘half of the world’ and the world,” Rouhani said at a May 14 campaign rally in the historic city of Esfahan, once the capital of the Safavid Empire and in a proverb referred to as “half of the world.” Rouhani added that tourism in 2013, before the deal lifted some sanctions, was less than that recorded in April this year.

Referring to the nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, by its Persian acronym, BARJAM, Rouhani said, “We established a bridge between Iran and the world with BARJAM. If the Iranian people allow it, if the supreme leader supports and guides it, with Dr. Zarif the rest of the sanctions can be removed.”