In a July 2018 speech to the Iranian cabinet, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized the Iran nuclear deal and warned the government not to trust the European signatories to the agreement to help Iran overcome the financial barriers resulting from US sanctions on the country that were reimposed after the Trump administration pulled out of the agreement.
The speech was given at a time when the moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was attempting to keep the deal alive after the US withdrew in May of last year. The timing of the release of the speech is also significant, as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the man who brokered the nuclear deal in 2015, handed in his resignation last week, seemingly out of frustration with pressure from conservative forces within the regime. President Rouhani has rejected the resignation, so Zarif will be staying on.
Read more: Iran’s Khamenei doubted Europe could help Tehran against U.S. sanctions
