Inside Iran there is disbelief and even skepticism over a deal with Trump and there is a sizeable group opposed to the agreement, a leading academic at the University of Tehran told NBC News this morning.
“There is a very very great pressure on the Iranian negotiators,” said Mohammad Eslami, who regularly traveled with Iranian negotiators during the nuclear talks.
There have been protests about Trump on the streets of Tehran he said, adding: “They were talking about a man who’s lied about the Iranians, who wanted to finish the Iranian civilisation.”
There is a deep distrust of Trump among the Iranian leadership, he said.
“Right now they are very skeptical regarding the outcome of this memorandom of understanding which is a real concern,” he said, adding it was up to the Trump Administration to fulfill the agreement. “If they can then I think the government will pursuade these people.” he said.
The memorandum of understanding is “a kind of interim deal between Iran and the United States,” he said. “It’s not something that is somehow exciting in Tehran because we do have the experience of having an international deal and Donald Trump himself withdrew from that international deal,” he added.