IRAN DEAL: The Ayatollah Issues A New Demand

President Obama got the votes he needs this week to survive Congressional rejection of his Iran deal, and now the Administration is looking to bring a few more Senators on board so Democrats can filibuster a final vote on the deal. If the absence of U.S. democratic accountability disturbs you, consider its expression in Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif (1st L) 

delivers a speech at Iran's Majlis (parliament) in Tehran on 

July 21. Photo: Ahmad Halabisaz/Zuma Press

We aren’t entirely jesting. On Thursday Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced that Iran’s parliament, known as the Majlis, would have final say on the nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has resisted submitting the agreement to parliament, for fear it might reject it or add stipulations.

The Ayatollah begs to differ. “Parliament should not be sidelined on the nuclear deal issue,” he said on state TV. “I don’t have any advice to the parliament about how to examine it, approval or disapproval.” The chairman of the committee tasked with reviewing the agreement says it will present a report on the deal at the end of the month, with a vote expected by mid-October.

The Supreme Leader’s likely purpose is to keep his political options open while pressing for more Western concessions. Mr. Khamenei refused U.S. demands that Iran freeze its ballistic-missile program, or accept no-notice inspections of suspected nuclear sites, and each time he got his way.

Now he says economic sanctions must be permanently lifted and not merely suspended under the “snap-back” mechanism, or he’ll scuttle the entire deal. Tehran-watchers suspect Mr. Khamenei is tipping his hand against the agreement by inviting conservative members of the Majlis to take up his cause. While the parliament has notional power in Iran, its members are vetted by the regime and would never dare defy the Supreme Leader.

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