There has been quite a tumult in the Parliament when the Presiding Board blocked any attempts by Parliamentarians, mainly from Principlists, to have Mr. Zarif’s important remarks on JCPOA in a NSFPC meeting earlier last week accessed by the media. His remarks were deemed dividing a Parliament Mr. Larijani, Speaker of the Parliament, had adroitly managed to placate in the highly debated JCPOA challenged by the same Principlist members who outspokenly criticized Zarif’s entourage during the negotiations.
An arch-Principlist, from Mashhad constituency Javad Karimi Ghoddousi is famous for his criticism of the nuclear negotiations and its foster child JCPOA. He told the press on Saturday that some backstage hands shot the door of the Commission so that no one including the media invited to listen to the purported recorded remarks by Zarif, could have access to the Commission members for some commentary on the issue.
Famously, Ghoddousi rejected the polemic that Zarif’s remarks had been classified and thus should have remained confidential; “Mr. Zarif’s remarks however indicate that the team waged laudable attempts during negotiations to hit the best possible deal; he reportedly told the Commission that the Iranian negotiators had made mistake in investing trust upon John Kerry’s verbal promise without something written which would have provided evidence in the times required,” he told the press, 'such remarks created uproar among the media; the remarks however were received with official censorship, and part of the Presiding Board saw it expedient not to allow such remarks leak to the public,” lest it would damage the reputation Rouhani’s government had so laboriously carved for itself out of the deal.
Mr. Karimi Ghoddousi also added that the media asked for the audio file itself, but that he promised to have them access to the transcript, with the condition that they should appear in person in the Commission to listen to the audio file to find Zarif’s remarks; “the Commission however has scrambled to avoid the situation, which seems to be well-orchestrated; my attempts to reach Commission members produced nothing.”
“The file and the remarks had not been confidential, since the critical parts would have been easily removed; I believe the national TV and Radio broadcaster [IRIB] should air the audio and ask Zarif to provide enlightenment as to the darker angles of the issue; the public as well as the political elite should call Zarif to provide effective comments why such a blunder would be possible; however, attempts to ask Mr. Zarif for more comments would be directed in a path to protect national security and no less important JCPOA itself; a parliamentarian had rejected my interview to the media which first provided some elucidation and Zarif’s remarks, but the truth found its way to the public,” Karimi Ghoddousi detailed.
Still in a related story, a Presiding Board member Akbar Ranjbarzadeh told Mehr News Saturday that the Commission Zarif episode should not provide food for partisan conflicts; “the transcript will be public if the Presiding Board agrees; the issue however should not divide Parliament and the government; that Mr. Zarif admits that there has been a degree of laxity in the negotiations indicates his courage to face the realities; to accept the responsibility should garner applause, not severe criticism; we believe Mr. Zarif had been true to himself in such remarks, which should not hit the solidarity in the face of US violations of the JCPOA,” Ranjbarzadeh summarized the Board opinion.
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