[Asia Times] Rouhani’s government is working to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but Iranian hardliners are digging in for resistance.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed on Monday to defy United States sanctions on the country’s petroleum sector, even as the conservative Guardian Council went further ‐ rejecting a bill meant to relieve US pressure.
Rouhani said Iran would "proudly bypass" the US sanctions in a televised speech on state TV as the 180-day deadline passed.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the lieutenant commander of the Revolutionary Guards, pointed to eight sanctions waivers granted to Turkey and other jurisdictions as proof of Washington’s failure to fully implement its goals.
But while Rouhani’s government is working to salvage the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran nuclear deal, Iranian hardliners appear to be digging in for resistance.
Iran’s Guardian Council on Sunday rejected an anti-terror financing bill that Rouhani had lobbied strongly for, sending it back to parliament.