Foreign Ministry's Reaction to Reports on 'Mogherini's Confidential Letter to Zarif'

The spokesperson for Iran's diplomatic apparatus has labeled claims by some domestic media regarding a confidential letter from Federica Mogherini to Iran's Foreign Minister as 'fake' and criticized these media outlets for 'prescribing solutions for Iran's adversaries.' The website Jahan News, which operates under the supervision of Alireza Zakani, a conservative representative from Tehran in the ninth parliament, claimed on Sunday, June 6, that the EU's foreign policy chief, in a joint letter with the foreign ministers of the P5+1 group, informed Iran that these countries bear no responsibility for the remaining financial and banking issues, as resolving these problems 'was not part of their commitments in the JCPOA.' Zakani, who was responsible for the special committee reviewing the JCPOA in the ninth parliament, was one of the staunchest opponents of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the six world powers. Jahan News alleged that the 'confidential letter' from Mogherini and the foreign ministers of the P5+1 reached Mohammad Javad Zarif in early May, emphasizing that 'accusing us in the media is false, and we understand why you say this in the media, but we and the U.S. had no commitments in the JCPOA beyond what we did.' According to this report, the alleged letter states that 'the remaining sanctions remain in place and are being enforced vigorously, but the P5+1 is negotiating new topics, and if Iran wants further reductions in sanctions, it must make more concessions, especially in three areas: terrorism, money laundering, and missile programs.' However, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, assessed this issue as indicative of 'the helplessness and desperation of certain individuals and media in Iran' shortly after the report was published. According to ISNA, Jaberi Ansari stated that 'some political and media currents are prescribing solutions for the adversaries of the Iranian government and nation, showing them how to deal and interact with Iran.' He added that 'some politicians and media in Iran have reached a level of degradation that they act as guides for foreigners in how to interact with the Iranian government by spreading fake news.' The Jahan News website has not yet responded to the statements made by the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson regarding its report. Zarif reiterated, 'The first step for banking interactions has been taken, but the Americans must take concrete steps with will and seriousness.' Zarif made these remarks in Tehran during a meeting with his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian. This is not the first time that Iran's Foreign Minister has called on the parties in the nuclear negotiations to take practical steps in implementing the nuclear agreement. He had previously welcomed the statement from the foreign ministers of the U.S. and major European countries encouraging banks and traders to cooperate with Iran, stating that the Islamic Republic has not yet reached 'what it should' after the Vienna nuclear agreement and that alongside statements, 'practical actions' must also be taken. Since the implementation of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the West in late January 2016, Hassan Rouhani's government has faced criticism that the implementation of this agreement has not had tangible effects. Some of these criticisms relate to existing problems in international banking communications, as government officials have stated that major European banks still fear establishing banking relations with Iran. Nevertheless, Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the committee following up on the implementation of the JCPOA, recently emphasized that compensating for 'the 12 years of damage caused by sanctions' will take time, and it cannot be expected that everything will return to its previous state within a four-month period.