Rouhani, Zarif face criticism for suggesting talks with US
While Iran seeks the removal of sanctions, some officials are not keen to reenter direct talks with the US.
President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are under fire for suggesting that Iran could continue talks with the United States after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
In a video recently released by Iranian media, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Esmail Ghaani criticizes the idea of speaking with the United States. Ghaani, who took over the Quds Force after the United States assassinated the previous commander, Qasem Soleimani, said that Iran is under a new era in the region and would be on the defensive.
In reference to the nuclear deal, which the United States exited in 2018 after signing it in 2015, Ghaani said, “Ignorance is part of their nature and cowardice of their existence; every day you witness how the heads of states sign a paper and in utter rudeness and shamelessness before the world, they undermine their own signature. They have no ability to negotiate.”
It’s unclear when Ghaani made these remarks, but that conservative Iranian media published them today suggests that conservatives in Iran, even though they may want a reentry of the United States into the nuclear deal and the removal of sanctions, do not want direct Iran-US talks similar to those that occurred under the Obama administration.
