Although it is soon to start criticizing President-elect Hassan Rouhani, his comments at a news conference Monday are cause for concern, Mehdi Mohammadi wrote Wednesday on the Tasnim website, one of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ mouthpieces. “What did he mean by seeking to improve relations with the United States? Is he going to suspend construction of the heavy water reactor at Arak or halt 20-percent uranium enrichment? Or maybe delay the installation of advanced centrifuges at Natanz? Washington has called all these activities causes of tension. So which parts of our nuclear program, does he propose to abandon?
The writer also challenges Rouhani’s pledge to build trust. Trust is a two-way street, says the radical writer. What steps has the United States taken that deserve to be called confidence-building measures? What are Rouhani’s limits for building trust and what will he claim in return?