Zarif: Meaningless Internal Disputes Complete America's Psychological Atmosphere

Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, emphasized that America's efforts after withdrawing from the JCPOA have been merely 'psychological' and criticized the 'political disputes within the country that caused despair among the people,' calling it 'complementary to America's psychological atmosphere.' Speaking on Saturday evening, September 3, during the 'Hala Khorshid' program on Iranian state television, Zarif referred to the 'very high expectations of society from the JCPOA' and acknowledged, 'Perhaps we in the government and some media played a role in raising expectations.' The nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, known as the JCPOA, was signed in July 2015. However, the U.S. government officially withdrew from it on May 8 of this year, emphasizing that the Islamic Republic continued its missile activities and 'destabilizing actions in the region' despite this agreement. In his interview with Iranian state television, Zarif stressed that 'there was a high-level consensus in the country regarding the JCPOA.' Critics of Hassan Rouhani's government have attacked the provisions of the JCPOA, accusing him of focusing all his government's efforts on achieving this agreement. These criticisms have intensified, especially following the speech of the Supreme Leader two weeks ago. Iranian media reported on August 13, quoting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stating, 'I made a mistake regarding the negotiations and allowed the experience at the insistence of the gentlemen; however, they crossed the established red lines.' This statement became newsworthy, and Khamenei's office issued a clarification. Nevertheless, in his television interview, Zarif pointed out that after the JCPOA, 'instead of utilizing the opportunities that had been created, we continued the political disputes, which led to despair and hopelessness among the people.' The Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister criticized 'the inappropriate remarks that were made' without going into details. According to IRNA, Zarif referred to 'the psychological pressure that America exerted against Turkey,' which led to the value of that country's currency dropping by nearly a third in two weeks, stating, 'We were largely insulated from these pressures'; however, this time a series of internal disagreements, a meaningless internal dispute 'completed this psychological atmosphere.' In recent weeks, several conservative figures in Iran, known as principlists, have intensified their criticisms of Hassan Rouhani's government. For instance, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, recently said, 'You went and negotiated; you turned the three-thousand-toman dollar into ten thousand tomans, and you still want to negotiate?' Over the past two years, especially after the nationwide protests last December in Iranian cities, several officials of the Islamic Republic have spoken about the necessity of combating corruption. In this context, Fars news agency reported on Saturday that the first public trial to combat 'corrupt individuals' and 'economic disruptors' was held on the same day. However, in addition to the laws that the Islamic Republic officials refer to as 'corruption-inducing,' the number of officials involved in financial corruption, rent-seeking, or embezzlement has significantly increased. So much so that Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of the Islamic Republic, recently stated that corruption has reached high-ranking officials in the country. The economic situation in Iran has faced severe turbulence and tensions in recent months; the rial has significantly lost its value against the dollar, the prices of gold coins and other goods have risen, and a wave of protests has emerged in several cities in Iran.