Zarif: Bibi Obstructs Iran Nuclear Talks to Cover Up Israeli Crimes


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to throw a wrench in the nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers as a tactic to cover up the Tel Aviv regime’s atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart in Tehran on Saturday, Zarif said Netanyahu indeed opposes any kind of agreement on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

He described Netanyahu’s opposition to Iran nuclear talks as an attempt to use a “fake issue” -allegations of non-civilian purposes in Iran’s nuclear program- to cover up the realities in the region, including the Israeli occupation of Palestine, oppression of Palestinians and continuation of aggressive policies in Gaza, the West Bank and holy al-Quds.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are in talks to nail down a long-awaited agreement to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The two sides held bilateral and multilateral negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva earlier in February to narrow the remaining differences ahead of a deadline for a final agreement by July 1.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu is going to deliver a speech to the US Congress against Iran's nuclear program on Tuesday.

Several Democrats have said they will skip the speech. Some said, like President Barack Obama, that it is inappropriate for Netanyahu to address the US Congress just two weeks before Israeli elections.