Iranian President Hassan Rouhani underlined Sunday in a national address that under the nuclear deal signed last month in Vienna his nation has the right to enrich uranium.
Rouhani said Iran achieved its main goals in the nuclear deal signed with the U.S. and world powers. Sanctions will also be lifted under the agreement, he said.
He emphasized that the Islamic Republic won its points by working through “constructive interaction” rather than being confrontational.
While Rohani was selling the agreement to his people in Tehran, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry continued on his Middle East tour to do the same with skeptical Arab nations in the region.
Kerry was in Cairo discussing the deal with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday and then left for Qatar.
Bright and early Monday morning he began talks in Doha with Qatari officials and those from other Arab nations in the region who are also wary of the deal.
The heads of Sunni nations are deeply concerned about the rising strength of Shi’ite Iran in the region, which has reached its tentacles into Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and several other areas as well.
Kerry acknowledged Iran’s blatant attempts to destabilize the region, but claimed they would be easier to deal with if Tehran cannot develop a nuclear weapon.
The issue, of course, is whether or not Iran will be able to develop a nuclear weapon under the agreement signed between Tehran and the U.S.-led world powers. Iranian scientists continued to violate the terms of the interim agreement throughout the talks; there is no guarantee whatsoever that Tehran won’t do the same once the agreement is in place and the sanctions which now exert at least some pressure are lifted once and for all.
In May, U.S. President Barack Obama hosted most of the Arab leaders at the Doha meeting in Camp David for a summit at which he promised them enhanced security cooperation and expedited defense sales to help protect against any Iranian threat.
Arab leaders have little faith in Obama, however: they were watching closely when the White House suddenly cut off basic ordered military supplies to Israel during a deadly counter terror war last summer with Hamas in order to exert political pressure on Jerusalem.
