Senior commanders in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, established 35 years ago this week to defend the clerical religious system that replaced the Western-backed Shah, have criticized the nuclear talks but been more muted over the curbs on their economic interests.
Mohammad Ali Jafari, a senior Guards’ commander lashed out at the nuclear negotiations, saying Iran had lost much and gained little and took aim more directly at Rouhani. “The most important arena of threat against the Islamic revolution – and the Guards have a duty to protect the gains of the revolution- is in the political arena. And the Guards can’t remain silent in the face of that,” Fars quoted him as saying.
The interim nuclear deal agreed with the West in November threatens the ideological basis of the power of the Guards.
The nuclear program, which Guard commanders call a source of national pride, is being curbed in return for sanctions relief and a diplomatic thaw with the country the Guards have long said is their biggest enemy, the United States.
Some senior Guard commanders have pointed out that stopping uranium enrichment altogether could be a slippery slope toward the dismantling of the country’s nuclear program, which Western leaders say they fear has military aims.