Iranian President Gives Speech Challenging Hardliners

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave a speech at an economic conference in Teheran Sunday in which he said, among other things, that negotiations with the P5+1 nuclear powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) set to resume next week are a matter of “heart” not just technology. If “we are ready to stop some types of enrichment which we do not need at this time, does it mean we have compromised our principles and cause?” Rouhani asked. He responded: “Our cause is not linked to a centrifuge. It is connected to our heart and to our willpower.” His comments, aimed at hardline critics of the negotiations within Iran, were in addition to his appeals to the assembled economists and business leaders to help him unleash Iran’s economic potential by reducing government control and reaching a nuclear agreement which would end crippling sanctions. Read More