Leaked recording of Iran's top diplomat offers blunt talk

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JON GAMBRELL

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A recording of Iran’s foreign minister offering a blunt appraisal of diplomacy and the limits of power within the Islamic Republic has been leaked, providing a rare look inside the country’s theocracy.

The release of the comments by Mohammad Javad Zarif set off a firestorm within Iran, where officials carefully mind their words amid a cut-throat political environment that includes the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, ultimately overseen by the country’s supreme leader. Zarif has been suggested as a possible candidate for Iran’s June 18 presidential election as well.

Outside of Iran, Zarif’s comments could also affect talks in Vienna aimed at finding a way for Tehran and the U.S. to both come into compliance with Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Already, sabotage targeted Iran’s nuclear facility at Natanz during the talks as Tehran has begun enriching a small amount of uranium up to 60% purity, which edges the country closer to weapons-grade levels.

After the leak became public, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh did not dispute the tape’s authenticity. He told journalists on Monday that the recording represented just a portion of a seven-hour interview Zarif gave to a well-known economist that was to be held for posterity by a think tank associated with the Iranian presidency.



FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2021, file photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif listens during the talks in Moscow, Russia. A recording of Iran's foreign minister offering a blunt appraisal of diplomacy and the limits of power within the Islamic Republic has leaked out publicly, providing a rare look inside the country's theocracy. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/iran-iran-nuclear-middle-east-europe-0068e6e181a4cc9aaa8433d8257ce04e

[Mad Kirrua]

1. America and Iran HAD an Agreement

Then the Fat Orange scuttled it. We'll never get back what was lost in those four years.

[cstanleytech]

2. An agreement yes but Iran was violating some of it.

That is though not meant as an excuse for Trump as he grossly exaggerated the problem and then his actions made it even worse and gave Iran an excuse to pull entirely out.

[karynnj]

3. They did not violate it until the US pulled out

Last edited Mon Apr 26, 2021, 05:43 PM - Edit history (1)

Even then they violated it only a year later after announcing what they would do. They also were careful that the first few violations were ones that could quickly be reversed.

The US immediately limited the benefits Iran was to get as soon as Trump was in office. The other nations stayed in the agreement, but the US position in the financial system made their companies choose between business with the US and with Iran. Even before things like killing their general, the US was using sanctions to strangle Iran.

This is not a case where both sides equally did not live up to the agreement. A related issue is the Menendez push that an Iran deal would have to cover everything,not just the nuclear issue. This is also Netanyahu's position. It is a far more likely to succeed plan to restore the 2015 agreement and THEN build on it. This was the intended path in 2015 and 2016.