At least he is showing some sense against the hardliners.
Iran President Pushes Back Over Anti-U.S. Crackdown
By THOMAS ERDBRINK and RICK GLADSTONENOV. 4, 2015
TEHRAN — President Hassan Rouhani of Iran on Wednesday criticized the recent arrests of journalists and others by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has accused detainees of being part of seditious plots hatched by the United States.
In remarks at a cabinet meeting posted on his Instagram account, Mr. Rouhani suggested that at least some of those arrests had been groundless.
“Let us not go and arrest one person here, another there, based on an excuse and without any reason, and then make up a case and aggrandize it, and finally say this is an infiltration movement,” Mr. Rouhani said.
His reaction signaled a deepening divide between his administration and hard-line adversaries over Iran’s future relationship with the United States and other Western powers. The hard-liners have vowed to severely limit dealings with the Americans despite the signing of an international agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for ending onerous American and European economic sanctions. Mr. Rouhani’s administration was the main advocate in Iran for that accord.
Continue reading at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/w...ti-us-crackdown.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
Iran President Pushes Back Over Anti-U.S. Crackdown
By THOMAS ERDBRINK and RICK GLADSTONENOV. 4, 2015
TEHRAN — President Hassan Rouhani of Iran on Wednesday criticized the recent arrests of journalists and others by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has accused detainees of being part of seditious plots hatched by the United States.
In remarks at a cabinet meeting posted on his Instagram account, Mr. Rouhani suggested that at least some of those arrests had been groundless.
“Let us not go and arrest one person here, another there, based on an excuse and without any reason, and then make up a case and aggrandize it, and finally say this is an infiltration movement,” Mr. Rouhani said.
His reaction signaled a deepening divide between his administration and hard-line adversaries over Iran’s future relationship with the United States and other Western powers. The hard-liners have vowed to severely limit dealings with the Americans despite the signing of an international agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for ending onerous American and European economic sanctions. Mr. Rouhani’s administration was the main advocate in Iran for that accord.
Continue reading at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/w...ti-us-crackdown.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
