The failure to reach a final agreement with
world powers in Vienna dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers today, with
most editorials viewing further dialogue with the West as pointless. Hardliners
denounced inability of the negotiating team, and by extension Rouhani’s
government, over the missed deadline and generally opposed the seven-month
extension of talks.
“Nothing!” Said the front page of hardline
paper Vatan-e Emrooz. It
characterized the seven-month extension time as a ruse to “cover up that
negotiations in fact failed.” The paper also blamed U.S. for its “excessive
demands” and the failure of the talks.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei
said today Iran would not sink “to its knees” on the nuclear issue, despite
efforts of “arrogants” (U.S. and Western allies) to make it do so. Khamenei
made the comments, his first since the failure of Vienna talks, during a speech
in Tehran.
President Hassan Rouhani was much more
optimistic, telling the nation in a televised speech on Monday night that
despite the setback, a deal could still be done.
Reformist newspapers were also generally
optimistic. Shargh, the leading
reformist paper, characterized the extension of the talks in a huge deadline on
its front page as, “Extension of Hope.” It said serious negotiations with the
U.S. and the West was a “victory of realism, rationality and pragmatism.”
Meantime, Saeed Leylaz, one of Iran’s top economists,
defended the extension agreement, saying as part of its sanctions relief Iran
will be able to draw $700 million a months from its blocked funds. He added
that would be equivalent of an increase of oil exports by 300,000 barrels a day. (AFP, 25 November)
Photo credit: Local media discussing the
failure of Vienna talks (AFP)
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