Implicit Confirmation of Arrest of 'A Close Individual' to Iran's Nuclear Negotiation Team

Contrary to the insistence of the Iranian Foreign Ministry that no arrests have occurred within the nuclear negotiation team, Abdollah Hajizadeh, the deputy representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), implicitly confirmed reports regarding the arrest of 'a close individual to the nuclear negotiation team' on charges of 'espionage.' According to Rasa News Agency, Mr. Hajizadeh made this statement on Thursday, September 4, during a ceremony for the farewell and introduction of the deputy representative of the Supreme Leader in the 'Sahib al-Zaman' IRGC in Isfahan Province. Without naming the individual, he referred to them as 'an enemy spy' and claimed that this person 'was close to a member of the Iranian nuclear negotiation team and was receiving payments from England.' He described the arrest as a sign of 'the importance of paying attention to the enemy's infiltration project' within the structures of the Islamic Republic. In another part of his speech, Hajizadeh mentioned other arrests made by the Ministry of Intelligence agents, but stated that news of these arrests has not been publicized 'for certain interests.' Hajizadeh's remarks follow reports from some media outlets close to the IRGC regarding the arrest of Abdolrasoul Daryaei Isfahani. The news of Mr. Daryaei Isfahani's arrest has recently faced denial from the Foreign Ministry, silence from some members of the Iranian nuclear negotiation team, and insistence from some conservative media on the accuracy of the arrest report. An informed source in the Iranian Foreign Ministry had described the reports published in some media and social networks about the arrest of one of the staff members of the JCPOA implementation office on charges of espionage as 'completely false and baseless.' Abbas Araghchi, head of the JCPOA Implementation Follow-up Committee, also requested that responsible authorities clarify the situation without confirming or denying the news. He added that he is not in a position to confirm whether someone has been arrested or not and that it is better for 'the relevant authorities to put an end to the rumors and officially comment on this matter.' Meanwhile, the official website of the Basij organization and other conservative news sources close to the IRGC have recently emphasized the arrest of Mr. Daryaei Isfahani in response to these positions. For instance, the Basij News Agency on September 3 quoted Jawad Karimi Qodosi, a member of the National Security Commission, detailing the circumstances of Daryaei Isfahani's arrest, stating that he was arrested on the plane carrying Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister, who was heading to Turkey. According to Mr. Karimi Qodosi, this information was provided by IRGC officials in a meeting with some members of Parliament, indicating that 'two spies' were present alongside Iran's Foreign Minister during the nuclear negotiations. He claimed that these individuals were providing information about the Iranian nuclear negotiation team to the United States, 'one of whom was likely Daryaei Isfahani.' Some conservative news agencies and websites have also cited another reason for the arrest of Abdolrasoul Daryaei Isfahani as 'receiving payments from American and British institutions in exchange for providing important financial and economic information about the Islamic Republic.' On the other hand, Abdolrasoul Daryaei Isfahani, who is currently a non-executive member of the board of directors of Asia Insurance and an advisor to Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank of Iran, has described his arrest as 'ridiculous' in response to these reports. However, the 'Bank of the People' website and other websites that had republished the interview with Abdolrasoul Daryaei Isfahani removed the interview from their outputs shortly after publication. In August of this year, in an interview with Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper, he introduced himself as a banking and financial member of the nuclear negotiation team, stating that he had joined the team at the request of Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank. He clarified that he had been a member of a team in the Presidential Office for a year and a half before the end of the negotiations, which was formed under the leadership of Mohammad Nahavandian, the head of Hassan Rouhani's office. According to Daryaei Isfahani, he accompanied the negotiation team in the 'final round.' Among the backgrounds mentioned in the interview with Donya-e-Eqtesad was his activity in the Hague Court and 'effective presence' in a case regarding the collection of claims from the British government related to the purchase of Chieftain tanks, which he stated ultimately led to a payment of 400 million pounds in damages to Iran.