The drama still continues with Sunday’s events; 12 Parliamentarians members of the Commission approved the accuracy and authenticity of a transcript purported to be Zarif’s remarks in that session. Mehr News Political Service has found a copy of the transcripts.
The pioneer of the drama and a real director is Javad Karimi Ghoddousi of Mashhad constituency who still believes it should continue. He even sent a letter to Mr. Zarif about the session to suggest that the nuclear negotiators had not been faithful to the Leader’s recommendations during negotiations. Karimi Ghoddousi told the Sunday Parliament open session that he himself transcribed FM’s remarks and communicated it to the media since “it did not had any confidential and classifiable content and the media as well as the public should know what Mr. Zarif had said about the negotiation process as their right to know.”
Parliament agreed however to give the transcript of the audio file only after it was verified according to what had been recorded in the audio file. “Mr. Zarif in the audio file admits that the negotiators and Zarif himself abandoned the major line of strategy recommended by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and trusted a verbal promise by John Kerry,” he told the open session.
In the file, Mr. Zarif gives an account of how nuclear negotiators, while insisting that ISA (Iran Sanctions Act) should not be extended by the end of December 31, 2016, relied on a verbal agreement by John Kerry, then the highest US official in the negotiation. Zarif tells the Commission session that his remarks would be private and should not be communicated to the media and the public. “This is not to be told out there in the public and I am solely communicating this as a fact; we erred on this case that abandoned our major line of strategy which had postulated that no act damaging the national security in terms of additional sanctions whatsoever would be agreed upon by Iranian negotiators; on this I take responsibility,” Zarif confesses to the Commission. “Leader of the Islamic Republic was informed about the strategy which included circumventing US Congress during negotiations and the fact that it should have a secondary role in the negotiations; Mr. Moniz and Kerry told us there is some tactics at work which would help us to prevent Senate approval of the ISA as well; Mr. Obama however was in a position to avoid implication of the US in violating the JCPOA at least 180 days after president-elect Donald Trump assumes power in the White House; however, he was to decide not to veto the Act and Mr. Kerry went to Congress and told the congressmen that ISA would achieve nothing and should not be extended,” Zarif continues.
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