LATEST: European Delegation Meets Former Political Prisoners Sotoudeh & Panahi
Keeping the interim nuclear deal on track, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone on Saturday.
On Monday, both the Iranian Foreign Minister and the US State Department confirmed that Kerry had called Zarif as the Secretary of State was flying from Israel to Vietnam.
A “senior State Department official” said the two men “discussed the importance of moving forward on implementation of the Joint Plan of Action they agreed to in Geneva and of maintaining a constructive atmosphere as the negotiations continue”.
The conversation came 48 hours after the US Treasury’s blacklisting of another 19 Iranian companies and individuals for links to Iran’s nuclear program. The step provoked strong criticism from the Supreme Leader, key officials, and leading MPs. Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said Tehran was considering the situation.
Over the weekend, Zarif reassured that implementation of the interim deal was proceeding — in part, it appears, because of the discussion with Kerry.
Without referring specifically to the phone call, Zarif told The Washington Post:
I’ve been in contact with American officials as well as other 5+1 officials, as well as [lead negotiator for the 5+1 Powers] Cathy Ashton. And everybody is trying to seek possibilities to move forward.”
What I have heard from Secretary Kerry and Lady Ashton is that they are committed to an early finalization of the Geneva process with a view to reaching a comprehensive agreement.
I share that objective. I’m sure that we will hit other obstacles on our way.
Another boost to the deal came on Monday from the European Union’s Foreign Ministers, which agreed to suspend the EU sanctions spelled out in the November 24 agreement International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified Iran’s implementation of certain measures over uranium enrichment:
The European Council issued a statement:
The Council welcomes the recent success in nuclear talks between the E3+3 and Iran…and endorses the agreement on a Joint Plan of Action reached on 24 November in Geneva.
A swift implementation of the voluntary measures by all sides is now key.
The lead negotiators for the two sides, Deputy Foreign Minister Araqchi and the European Union’s Ashton, will meet in Brussels on Tuesday morning.
Ashton said, “We have arranged most of the details [in technical talks], but we must think and work carefully on one or two implementation issues.”
Internet Filters and Cyber Threat Warnings
Commenting on the state of internet filters inside Iran, Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi declared “We agree instead of a system that filters everything, there should be a system that only filters inappropriate content.”
Vaezi also announced a plan to increase internet speed from the current 70 gigabytes per second (g/s) to 700 g/s by 2015.
Meanwhile, Head of the Passive Defense Organization Gholam Reza Jalali warned of the rise of cyber threats in recent years.
Jalali stated, “Threats in the cyber arena have expand and affect national security. From this aspect, we are witnessing the expansion of information technology according to the [national] fourth and fifth expansion plan. In a sense, it can be said that the country’s national resources have changed nature from a physical to a cyber nature over the past five years.”
European Delegation Meets Former Political Prisoners Sotoudeh & Panahi
A European Parliamentary delegation has met former political prisoners, including lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and award-winning film director Jafar Panahi, as well as officials like Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Sotoudeh was freed this autumn after three years behind bars, while Panahi has been under house arrest after he was handed a six-year sentence in December 2010.
Mohammad Hassan Asfari, a member of Parliament’s National Security Committee, criticized the meeting with “activists of the Sedition, Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi”: “The gentlemen who invited these without the Parliament’s coordination must answer for this.”
Larijani Praises Government’s “Correct” Economic Analysis
Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has endorsed the Rouhani Government’s economic strategy.
Larijani said the Government’s draft 2014/2015 budget, submitted by Rouhjani to Parliament last week, is “slightly optimistic”. However, he said, “The administration’s analysis of the country’s problems is correct, and the administration’s approach to resolve economic issues seems correct.”
