Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has expressed hope that with the coming to power of the next parliament in the country, which is "more coordinated with the other two branches," his government will be able to fulfill more of its promises.
Mr. Rouhani said today, Sunday, May 1, at the International Workers' Day ceremony in Tehran: "We are happy that our future Islamic Consultative Assembly, the one that will begin working in June, God willing, will work in greater coordination with the other two branches."
The second round of the Iranian parliamentary elections to determine the remaining 68 seats in parliament was held on Friday, and the coalition of reformists and moderates close to Mr. Rouhani's government succeeded in winning a relative majority of seats in parliament overall, but fell short of an absolute majority (half plus one) of the seats.
Read more about the composition of the future parliament here.
In his speech today, Mr. Rouhani thanked the voters for "choosing the best," and expressed hope that with the cooperation of this parliament, he will be able to fulfill the promises he made to voters in the 2013 presidential election.
Defending the JCPOA
Mr. Rouhani also once again defended the comprehensive nuclear agreement with world powers, saying to critics: “Why do you belittle the work of a great nation? This is not the work of the government, this is the work of a great, powerful, and resilient nation.”
Referring to some criticism of the JCPOA, especially from people he called “pessimists and mistrustful,” he said, “In the shadow of the JCPOA, your hands are open to transferring money today. They say it’s nothing.”
The Iranian president added: “In the shadow of the JCPOA, instead of large ships docking on the coast of neighboring countries and reaching the Iranian coast by boat and barge, and each container being paid an additional $700 from the people’s pockets, the ships dock directly on the Iranian coast, and they still say it’s nothing.”
A group of government critics criticize the slow implementation of the nuclear deal, especially Western banks' avoidance of transactions with Iran, and accuse Mr. Rouhani's government of being overly optimistic about Western powers.
The scope of such criticism of the JCPOA increased after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, criticized in several speeches the “lack of tangible practical results of the negotiations and agreement” and said: “The exchanges with the West have not had any positive effect so far.”
These criticisms have also been expressed by some Iranian military officials.
In response to such criticism, Mr. Rouhani said in late April: “Reconstruction and renovation after a disaster takes time. Only 3 months have passed since the implementation of the JCPOA, but some think 30 years have passed. Look at the many openings that have been created in these three months.”
