Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday said the deal with Western powers over Tehran's nuclear program meant "the surrender [of the West] to the Iranian nation's will." In November, Iran and the P5+1 group - the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany - had reached an interim agreement whereby Iran would freeze part of its nuclear program in exchange for limited easing of sanctions.
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Last week, the P5+1 and Iran agreed to start implementing the terms of the November deal later this month.
Speaking on Tuesday in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, Rouhani said the "Geneva deal means the surrender of big powers before the great nation of Iran". He repeated that message on his Twitter account, saying that in Geneva, the "world powers surrended to [the] Iranian nation's will." That tweet was later deleted.
On his first tour to the provinces of Iran since assuming office in August, Rouhani told the crowds that the agreement broke "the wall of sanctions that were unjustly taken against this dear, peaceful nation."However, despite Rouhani's seeming recalcitrance, several analysts have said he made his latest statements simply to garner support among the Iranian populace, which so far has doubted the deal.
White House spokesman Jay Carney played down Tehran's claims, saying that Rouhani was addressing his "domestic audience".
He said: "It is not surprising to us and nor should it be surprising to you that the Iranians are describing the agreement in a certain way towards their domestic audience. It does not matter what they say, it matters what they do."
