Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attended on May 24 a closed parliament session to speak about the latest rounds of the nuclear negotiations. After his speech, parliament member Mehdi Koochakzadeh approached Zarif at the podium and suggested that Zarif was a “traitor” for negotiating under US threats, something Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had explicitly warned against. Zarif and Koochakzadeh, surrounded by other parliament members, then engaged in a yelling match, which was recorded by cellphone cameras and shared widely on social media.
Afterward, Koochakzadeh, who has an already acrimonious relationship with the Iranian media, took to his favorite platform to explain his actions: Instagram. He asked, “How long can someone’s real face be hidden from the people? For how long can the administration’s lack of work (especially on the nuclear negotiations) be hidden with distractions and controversy? Has not the time come to lift the curtain on reality and recognize the Iranian people as more honest than Westerners?” He then accused Zarif of starting the yelling match.
