In an exclusive interview with Fars News, Ali Younesi, the former intelligence minister and current adviser for President Hassan Rouhani on ethnic and religious minority affairs, spoke about a wide range of issues, including his time as intelligence minister, his role in the 2013 elections, the nuclear negotiations and his statements that the current intelligence minister still does not have full control of the agency.
On the nuclear negotiations, Younesi said, “I am not very optimistic, but the sides are inclined to achieve a conclusion and the Americans are more inclined than the other countries. Some countries that appear as friends, such as Russia and China, are not inclined at all for the negotiations to reach a conclusion. Neither hard-line groups in Iran or America are inclined toward a nuclear agreement. And Israel’s lobby in America has a large role.”
