A leaked audio of Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shows just how desperate Iran was to solidify the 2015 Iran nuke deal.
Zarif even joked about kidnapping one of Barack Obama’s daughters to get the deal done.
The leaked audio was first reported by Iran International and independently translated by The Free Beacon.
“I believe Iran and the U.S. will never be friends as long as the Islamic Republic preserves its identity. Never will our issues with America be resolved,” Zarif said.
The Free Beacon reported:
Iran, Zarif said, “scored six goals against the opponent” when the country was down 6 to 0. Zarif also recalls “jokingly” suggesting that he kidnap one of Obama’s daughters and bring her to Iran in order to guarantee the United States signed the deal and made good on its implementation.
Zarif’s private remarks, recorded in March, provide new insight into just how badly Iran needed the nuclear deal, which provided it with billions of dollars in cash windfalls and unwound sanctions that had nearly destroyed the country’s economy. With the country once again teetering on the brink of economic collapse due to the Trump administration’s robust sanctions regime, Zarif is pressuring the Biden administration to guarantee a new round of sanctions relief. His leaked remarks are a sign that Iran’s leadership desires a new deal more than it is publicly letting on.
On the audio tape, Zarif admits “we were naïve” to fully trust America and the Obama administration when it signed the original nuclear accord. Because the former U.S. administration circumvented Congress and never submitted the deal for approval, former president Donald Trump was easily able to cancel it after taking office.
Other leaked audios of Zarif discussing his conversations with John Kerry have prompted calls for an investigation into Obama’s secretary of state.
In a recently leaked audio, Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said then-Secretary of State John Kerry informed him about Israel’s covert operations in Syria.
Zarif said he was shocked by John Kerry’s revelation that Israel had attacked Iranian targets in Syria over 200 times.
More private honesty from the leaked audio of Iran's top diplomat: "I believe Iran and the U.S. will never be friends as long as the Islamic Republic preserves its identity. Never will our issues with America be resolved" https://t.co/Soc8Ncg9DE
— Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) April 28, 2021
