March 20, 2016
President Rohani defended his nuclear deal and policy of detente with the West Saturday, saying his opponents seek only their own interests, not those of the people.
The remarks showed Rohani was prepared to go head-to-head with hardliners in the wake of his success in the elections last month that saw a number of the loudest hardliners removed from office.
“What’s the use of saying, ‘I am a revolutionary’,” Rohani asked, mocking the rhetoric of many hardliners. “Why don’t we seek people’s comfort and our country’s glory?” Rohani said in a speech broadcast live on the state television.
Hardliners have accused Rohani of betraying the anti-Western values of the 1979 revolution. But Rohani said the election results were a vote of confidence for his policies and promised to push for more political and social reforms.
“We had a revolution to promote morality, national unity and brotherhood…. You are a revolutionary when people feel safe as a result of your words and actions,” Rohani said.
Criticizing hardline newspapers that have increased their attacks on Rohani’s allies in recent months, he said: “Some newspapers are bulletins of insult. You open them anxiously to see how they have insulted you again. Is this Islam? Is this an Islamic society?”