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Iran
Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Zarif gestures during a press conference in Tehran. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hardliners have taken to social media to denounce Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for suggesting negotiations with Washington following the US assassination of the country’s top military general.
In a Saturday interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Zarif stated that Iran would be willing to negotiate with Washington if the administration were to drop the current economic sanctions, despite the US drone strike that killed Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad Airport on January 3.
“No, I never rule out the possibility that people will change their approach and recognize the realities,” Minister Zarif replied when asked if he would rule out “the possibility of negotiations” with Washington following Soleimani's assassination.
“For us, it doesn’t matter who is sitting in the White House. What matters is how they behave. The Trump administration can correct its past, lift the sanctions and come back to the negotiating table. We’re still at the negotiating table.”
Hardliners on Twitter responded harshly to Zarif’s comments with some labeling him a traitor, worsened by Trump’s rebuff of the offer.
President Trump re-imposed wide-ranging economic sanctions in November 2018 after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal six months earlier.
Zarif has said repeatedly to international media that if Iran does not benefit from the 2015 nuclear deal, it would continue to reduce its commitment under the deal every two months.
“Do we have anyone as stupid and as treacherous as the one who speaks about the possibility of negotiation with the terrorists of Baghdad airport and they respond by saying "No Thanks”,” Baran, an anonymous account said on Twitter.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ruled out any possibility of negotiation with the United States and referred to the European powers and the United Kingdom as “terrorists” during his Friday prayer sermon on January 17.
The official website of Khamenei, the ultimate decision maker in Iran, carried a poster on its front page showing President Trump sitting around a table with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. “The Gentlemen sitting at the negotiating table are the terrorists of Baghdad airport,” it read.
“How soon this treacherous Zarif filled the empty chair,” Ali Tajeran who identifies himself as plainclothes officer wrote on Twitter, posting the photo with Zarif in the remaining seat.
Emotions are running high in Iran following the killing of Soleimani, with hardliners rejecting any negotiation with the West. Although Khamenei lashed out at European powers during his sermon, he did not close the door on negotiating with them.
With the charged atmosphere gripping Iran, it appears that Tehran would not be able to meet the conditions required by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.
FATF gave a deadline of February 2020 for Iran to pass legislation to abide by the organizations standards, however the legislation passed by the parliament is stuck in two monitoring bodies controlled by hardliners.
“Enacting the remaining two bills of the FATF recommendations brings us closer to being drowned,” Mohammad Dehghan, one of the six legal experts sitting on the powerful Guardian Council said on Iranian national TV on Thursday.
“It also closes the ways of bypassing the sanctions,” he added.
European powers are also concerned about Iran’s reduction of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal. France, Germany and UK triggered the deal’s dispute mechanism on January 14 after Iran lifted all restrictions on enriching uranium in early January but said that it would still give access to the inspectors from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit Iranian sites.
“Trump has said in clear terms that he personally issued the order to assassinate commander Qasem Soleimani, what objective is Mr Zarif pursuing by negotiating with the killer of Commander Soleimani?” Kayhan, the hardline newspaper responded to Zarif before questioning if the foreign minister truly represented Iran.
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