Iran's Supreme Leader favors parliamentary vote on nuclear deal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran's Supreme Leader said on Thursday, September 3, he favored a parliamentary vote on its nuclear deal reached with world powers and called for sanctions against Tehran to be lifted completely rather than suspended, state television reported, according to Reuters.

President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist, whose 2013 election paved the way to a diplomatic thaw with the West, and his allies have opposed such a parliamentary vote, arguing this would create legal obligations complicating the deal's implementation.

"Parliament should not be sidelined on the nuclear deal issue ... I am not saying lawmakers should ratify or reject the deal. It is up to them to decide," said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state policy in Iran.

“I have told the president that it is not in our interest to not let our lawmakers review the deal,” the top Shi'ite Muslim cleric said in remarks broadcast live on state TV.

Khamenei himself has not publicly endorsed or voiced opposition to the Vienna accord, although he has praised the work of the Islamic Republic's negotiating team.

A special committee of parliament, where conservative hardliners close to Khamenei are predominant, have begun reviewing the deal before putting it to a vote. But Rouhani's government has not prepared a bill for parliament to vote on.