A deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has said that people’s livelihood cannot be improved with negotiations, referring to talks with the West.

Gen. Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, the coordinating deputy to IRGC commander Hossein Salami, in a speech on Wednesday stressed that Iran needs to rely on its internal capabilities instead of counting on economic improvement through negotiations. He was referring to nuclear talks with the United States and its allies that could lift sanctions and offer the battered economy a lifeline.

Naghdi also repeated criticism by other hardliners that former President Hassan Rouhani linked the fate of the country to negotiations with the West.

Iran’s economy entered a long-lasting crisis after 2018 when former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA and imposed sanctions.

Naghdi also urged Iranians to obey Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to achieve a better future. Last week, clerics loyal to Iran’s 83-year-old ruler also praised him as God’s representative and urged obedience.

Anti-regime protests that began last September in Iran were largely directed against Khamenei, who is seen by many as dictating policy at every level and responsible for increasing poverty in the country. Most Iranians are in favor of talks with the West and yearn for the lifting of sanctions to improve their lives.

Protesters also want social and political freedoms and see Khamenei as the leader of hardliners who control the authoritarian government.