Zarif still believes his PNSFPC remarks ‘confidential’

Mr. Zarif who was speaking to Entekhab website believed that implementation of JCPOA would be still more time-intensive than the negotiation itself; “in practice, sides wage efforts to secure the minimum of what has been agreed by all sides; we had not been seeking nukes, but the Americans could claim they achieved what they had been working to achieve; however, the reality is that they would not tolerate Iran’s having a single centrifuge,” he told the website.

“I believe it was not for the common good to bring the JCPOA to public arena; the reaction and the response incited in the public would and really did send false messages to the outside world, which was the real concern among my colleagues in the Foreign Ministry and negotiation team; in the same manner, divulging the confidential remarks in a behind-doors meeting in National Security and Foreign Policy Commission was equally humiliating the negotiators and largely affected our leverage in the international community,” he emphasized.

Zarif insisted that his remarks in the Commission session had been confidential and no participant should have had the authority to publicly divulge; “this was playing with the public mentality and to manipulate it as specific circles liked; when I make references to Vietnam War in negotiations, or when I warn against threatening Iranians, I am actually communicating specific messages to the other side, as part of the responsibilities we had.”

On the question of Leader’s cognizance of the nuclear negotiations details, Zarif declined stories that Leader had been recommending on details of the negotiations he received reports; “he had been merely providing the general lines, but negotiators did provide the Leader with details as well,” he added.

On US President Donald Trump, FM said Trump was an inherent businessman and would not accurately assess the situation in a trade-off where both sides should make some concessions to gain in some other issues; “that he demands Iran should not have even a single centrifuge, or that Iran should dismantle Arak heavy water reactor, clearly provides testament to his mentality that in any bargain a side should attain all objectives set before,” Zarif concluded.

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