In a speech on Monday, Iran’s Supreme Leader maintained a cautious line on domestic debate over the July 14 nuclear deal, while pointing to his concerns over Tehran’s position in Middle East crises.

Addressing Islamic broadcasters and Shia activists , Ayatollah Khamenei maneuvered carefully between the Rouhani Government and critics who are demanding a Parliamentary vote on the agreement. He said the deal “is still unsettled given the fact that neither Iran nor the US Parliaments have adopted it yet”.

The Supreme Leader did not indicate whether he was siding with the hardline position that Parliament must provide ratification, or whether he was holding the Government’s line that the Supreme National Security Council has the authority to endorse the deal.

Instead, most of his speech was a denunciation of the US and its allies, both through warnings of “sedition” inside Iran — “the opposite side in the nuclear negotiations was seeking to clinch an agreement…to find a way to infiltrate the Islamic Republic” — and a review of crises from Iraq to Syria to Yemen.

Calling for Muslim unity — these were not “holy wars”, but “political wars” fed by the West” — Khamenei declared, “We will firmly block their way. We will not allow America to make economic, political or cultural inroads into the country. We will counter such infiltration with all our power.”

The Supreme Leader’s focus on the Middle East drew attention away from the domestic debate over the nuclear agreement; however, it also betrayed worries about the regional developments. Iran can do little to ease the growing public discontent that is challenging the al-Abadi Government, even as Baghdad is facing the threat from the Islamic State. Tehran’s ally in Syria, President Assad, is in serious political and military trouble, and a Russian-Iranian initiative for political talks has been checked by Saudi Arabia.

Khamenei pointed to continued Iranian commitment in both Iraq and Syria as essential, by linking them on the frontline of the Islamic Republic’s security: “If Iraq disintegrates, then Syria is the main goal of our enemies.”

He assured the audience that Tehran will prevail, both at home and abroad: “In the past 35 years the Islamic Republic has always been the target of threats, sanctions…and various political conspiracies….[Iran] is accustomed to the pressure.”

By EA WorldView