Iran military chief reportedly backs nuke deal despite concerns

Iran’s military chief on Saturday backed the landmark nuclear deal with world powers despite having concerns over it, the IRNA news agency reported, a major endorsement that could allow Iranian conservatives to back an accord hard-liners oppose.

 

Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of Iran’s armed forces and a close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke of 16 advantages of the deal in comments published by the news agency. Firouzabadi wrote that both a recent United Nations vote on the deal and the accord itself “have advantages that critics have ignored.

 

“The tone of the U.N. Security Council resolution has changed compared to the previous ones,” Firouzabadi told the Fars news agency, according to Reuters. “Regarding Iran’s missile activities, it doesn’t order but only asks for Iran’s compliance.”

 

But Firouzabadi also said Iran’s military has concerns about the deal.

 

“The Armed Forces have the most concerns about the impacts of the deal on Iran’s defense capabilities and they are concerned about the US officials’ misinterpretations from the post-nuclear deal sanctions,” he added.

 

Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, has not publicly approved or disapproved the deal. However, he repeatedly has offered words of support for his country’s nuclear negotiators.

 

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