One year after agreement on the comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers and six months after its implementation, many Iranians are still not feeling the economic benefits of the lifting of sanctions. With presidential elections less than a year away, officials from the administration of President Hassan Rouhani are in the uncomfortable position of having to continue to sell the benefits of the deal to an Iranian public that is increasingly distrustful of US intentions to hold up its end of the agreement.
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, a top nuclear negotiator who now heads the staff overseeing implementation of the nuclear deal, sat down with Iranian television July 11 to update the public on the status of the deal.