Speaker Larijani dashes US belief he will back nuclear deal

In contrast to the confident predictions of US administration officials that Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani would lead a yes vote on the nuclear deal in Iran’s parliament, Larijani himself said Saturday: “We have to wait and see what happens.” He was answering questions from reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. He ducked a question on supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s position on the deal, saying: “I do not have a clear judgment whether it will be approved or not.” And when asked whether the Revolutionary Guards continued to seek Israel’s destruction, Larijani declined to answer. He then received a delegation of anti-Zionist ultra-religious Jewish leaders who refuse to recognize the state of Israel.