Ministry of Foreign Affairs Expresses Strong Regret Over Publication of Zarif's Remarks in National Security Commission

The spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed "strong regret" over the publication of Mohammad Javad Zarif's remarks during a session of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, calling the act "unethical, illegal, and un-Islamic," as well as "against national interests and security" and "providing tactical negotiation insights to the U.S." According to the state news agency IRNA, Bahram Qasemi described the release of the text of the Foreign Minister's remarks from the December 19 session as "illogical and strange," and "against the national interests and security of the country." Qasemi expressed "strong regret" over the actions of Jawad Karimi Qodusi, a representative from Mashhad, and 11 other representatives. He stated, "Any reasonable person who cares about national interests and is concerned about the disclosure of state secrets to foreigners, especially the U.S., knows that private conversations of the Foreign Minister, expressed in a limited gathering of trusted representatives, should not be revealed." Qasemi characterized this action as "providing information to the U.S. about the country's negotiation tactics," which he claimed could "weaken the Islamic Republic's negotiating position against future U.S. actions." The spokesperson also expressed deep regret over what he called the "failure of those claiming ethics and piety to adhere to the legal norms of confidential sessions and the disregard for national and security interests for personal and factional gains." Qasemi announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "will now have to exercise greater caution in the manner and form of holding such meetings to prevent the disclosure of negotiation tactics and sensitive strategic decisions." A few days prior, Karimi Qodusi had published parts of the Foreign Minister's remarks in the National Security Commission, in which Zarif described his "trust" in the promises of the U.S. Secretary of State as a "mistake." According to Qodusi, Zarif stated, "Previously, John Kerry, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury of the U.S. told us that if the D'Amato law [extending sanctions on Iran] goes to the Senate, we have ways to prevent it." The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had described the published remarks attributed to Zarif as "completely incorrect, distorted, and selective," stating that "quoting accurate information from confidential sessions is also against the national interests and security of the country." On Sunday, Qodusi published the full text of Zarif's remarks, and the Fars news agency reported that 12 representatives present at the National Security Commission had listened to the tape of Zarif's statements and confirmed the accuracy of the written text with their signatures. Besides Qodusi, other representatives including Mohammad Ali Pourmokhtar, Javad Hosseini Kia, Hossein Ali Haji Deligani, Abbas Goudarzi, Abolfazl Abutalebi, Farhad Falahati, Mohammad Jassemi, Ahad Azadikhah, Nasser Mousavi Largani, Mohammad Javad Abtahi, and Hassan Norouzi signed the published text of Zarif's remarks. According to this text, Zarif stated that he had made a "mistake" regarding the omission of the "ISA" law extending sanctions on Iran in the Vienna nuclear agreement. He also indicated that the inclusion of this law in the Vienna nuclear agreement would have led the U.S. Congress to oppose the agreement. Zarif mentioned that John Kerry and Ernest Moniz, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, had promised during the nuclear negotiations that they would use "methods" to prevent the implementation of this law. The text quotes Zarif as saying, "I am now saying this; I am not saying it outside. But I am telling you that I made a mistake based on an agreement we made; we set aside our strategy, and based on that agreement, we announced it, which became the position of the Islamic Republic." Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Sunday, "Even if one refers to the text transcribed by Mr. Karimi Qodusi, it is clear that Dr. Zarif's mention of a mistake refers to some errors in the way of public positioning on a specific issue, which has no relation to the contents of the JCPOA or the negotiation strategy and the manner of conducting negotiations or drafting the JCPOA." On Sunday, Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, also confirmed that the Foreign Minister's remarks in the National Security Commission pertained to a part of the nuclear agreement and not its entirety. Qodusi had previously regarded the publication of Zarif's remarks as part of his representative duties and rejected the confidentiality of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission meeting. The Iranian nuclear negotiation team has repeatedly stated that all stages of negotiation were conducted under the direct supervision of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Although Ayatollah Khamenei, who ultimately expressed his conditional approval of the agreement, has criticized it multiple times over the past year.