Insight: Nuclear deal heightens tension between Iran president and Guards

(Reuters) - The article on Iran's semi-official Fars news agency appeared routine: the minister of roads and urban development said the ministry does not have a contract with construction firm Khatam al Anbia to complete a major highway heading north from Tehran.

Two things made it stand out: Khatam al Anbia is one of the biggest companies controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and company head Ebadollah Abdullahi had said just three days earlier that it did have the contract.

The December report was one of a series of signs that President Hassan Rouhani, who came into office last August, is using the political momentum from a thaw with the West over its nuclear program to roll back the Guard's economic influence.

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The interim nuclear deal agreed with the West in November threatens the ideological basis of the power of the Guards, set up to counterbalance the military and protect the 1979 Islamic revolution from external and internal interference.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/09/us-insight-nuclear-deal-insight-idUSBREA1804120140209