Zarif: Iran Made No Agreement with G5+1 on Enrichment Suspension

In a hearing held by the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission on Sunday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif answered questions on the Holocaust, the phone talk between Iran-US presidents, suspension of uranium enrichment and some other issues.

"I believe we can ask this question why the oppressed Palestinians and Muslims have to pay the price for the death of a group during World War II, and why the Palestinians have to be killed and forced from their lands while those crimes were committed in Europe and by the Europeans?"  Zarif was  quoted as saying by Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, the commission’s rapporteur, when inquired about his stand on the Holocaust.

"We condemn the massacre of Jews by the Nazis, and we condemn the massacre of Palestinians by the Zionists... We have nothing against Jews and Judaism, but we do not allow Zionists to present Iran as being anti-Semitic and bellicose in their propaganda so they can continue to repress the Palestinian people... and have their crimes forgotten," Zarif told Tasnim in early September.

When asked by a lawmaker why he encouraged and urged President Hassan Rouhani to have a telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama and to take the latter's call, Zarif said,"Dr. Rouhani and I have not done and will not do anything contrary to the discretion of the Supreme Leader."

President Rouhani, who had travelled to New York to attend the 68th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, had a telephone conversation with his American counterpart Barack Obama on September 27 just on his way to leave New York City to fly back to Tehran.

Questioned about his view on the suspension of uranium enrichment by Tehran in the nuclear talks with the Group5+1, Zarif was quoted as saying: "We did not make any agreement on suspending enrichment and this is a sheer lie."

In relevant remarks on October 22, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham announced that Iran’s recent three-stage plan on its nuclear program to the six major world powers in Geneva was proposed in coordination with the country’s high-ranking officials, particularly the Supreme Leader.

“The talks between the Islamic Republic of Iran and G5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) is carried out in constant coordination with the country’s senior officials, and the president is liaising with the Supreme Leader on the issue,” she said at the time.

She told reporters in her weekly press conference that all the major frameworks and policies are decided on in the country's Supreme National Security Council.

Tehran and the Group 5+1 held a two-day meeting in the Swiss city of Geneva on October 15-16. During the two-day talks, Iran presented a three-step plan with the aim of bringing the standoff over the Islamic Republic’s peaceful nuclear program to an end.