Increasing Troubles With US and International Community Plague Iran
London, 17 Jun - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made a campaign pledge to focus his second term on lifting non-nuclear sanctions. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei approved the nuclear talks in 2012, before Rouhani’s term, so Rouhani’s success will need Khamenei’s blessing, and having non-nuclear sanctions lifted, will depend on whether Khamenei is willing to endure major setbacks, like he did with the nuclear deal.
Still, he may have no choice. The international community will soon be making demands on Iran to end to its support for terrorism and its ballistic missile program, as well as to begin respecting human rights by ending executions.
In fact, on June 13th, the US House of Representatives passed a bill condemning the 1988 Iranian massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. Officially titled, “The condemnation of the Iranian government for the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 and the invitation to call for justice for the victims”, Resolution 188 received bipartisan support in an increasingly partisan Congress.
In response to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s remarks in Riyadh, saying Iran must end its ballistic missile tests, Rouhani said, “We will test our missiles whenever needed, waiting for no one’s permission.” But such testing is a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.
Rouhani responded to both US President Trump and his top diplomat when they demanded that Tehran bring an end to its terrorism in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and end its financial support for the Lebanese Hezbollah, “In the region, Iran has been able to stand in the face of terrorism… sending its diplomats and military advisors to Iraq, Syria and other nations…”
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