PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva, January 2015

LATEST: Zarif — I Hope Detained Washington Post Reporter Rezaian Is Soon Freed

SUNDAY FEATURES

Israel Feature: Netanyahu – “US & Europe, Galloping Towards Iran Nuclear Deal, Endangering Our Existence”
Iran Interview: The 4-Year “Vicious” House Arrest of Opposition Leader Mehdi Karroubi — His Wife Speaks

UPDATE 1545 GMT: The Supreme Leader has indicated that he will back a compromise nuclear deal, without giving details of the concessions to be made by Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei said in a statement, “I would go along with any agreement that could be made. Of course, I am not for a bad deal. No agreement is better than an agreement which runs contrary to our nation’s interests.”

Supporting President Hassan Rouhani and Iran’s negotiators in their pursuit of the comprehensive settlement, Khamenei said, “The respected president mentioned something good, which is, ‘Negotiations are all about trying to reach a common stand’. This means that one side would not end up getting all it wants.”

However, addressing Air Force commanders, the Supreme Leader also said that he would not accept any resolution short of a detailed arrangements — probably emphasizing Iran’s demand for a firm commitment by the US and European powers to lift sanctions quickly:


Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry have met for the second time in three days on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

The talks come amid the ongoing, but still inconclusive, attempt by Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia) to conclude a comprehensive nuclear agreement. After two extensions last year, a deadline of July 1 has been set.

Outstanding issues including the number and level of Iran’s centrifuges for uranium enrichment, the lifting of US-led sanctions on Tehran, and the duration of an agreement.

Zarif has also met other high-level representatives of the 5+1 Powers in Munich, including a discussion with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. No details have been released and there has been no sign of an advance towards a deal.

Instead, “senior Iranian officials” have signaled that Tehran can make no further concessions and the US and its partners should accept the deal on the table. Through Reuters, they warned that President Rouhani — seen by many in the West as a “moderate” in the Iranian system, versus the “hardliners” preferring confrontation — would fall if talks did not succeed.

See Iran Feature: “Senior Iranian Officials” — President Rouhani Finished If There is No Nuclear Deal

Iran is reportedly seeking the removal within six months on its oil and banking sectors, while the US is saying that this will take “years”.

Publicly containing the leak, Zarif denied that he had spoken to Kerry about Rouhani’s troubles in the event of failure: “The internal issues (of Iran) were not raised during the meetings at all and the report released with regard to this issue is a sheer lie.”


Zarif: I Hope Detained Washington Post Reporter Rezaian Is Soon Freed

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has expressed hope that the Washington Post’s correspondent in Tehran, Jason Rezaian, will soon be freed from an imprisonment of more than six months.

Zarif said, during a panel at the Munich Security Conference, that he had arranged for Rezaian’s mother to visit him and “tried my best to help him in a humanitarian way.”

He continued, “I hope that he will be cleared of the charges in a court of law, and that would be a good day for me.”

Rezaian was arrested, along with his wife and fellow journalist Yeganeh Salehi and two photojournalists, on July 22 in Tehran. The photojournalists were soon freed and Salehi was released on bail in October.

However, Rezaian has been held without access to a lawyer and without public revelation of the charges against him. Earlier this week, his family expressed concern that his case had been scheduled for trial in a Revolutionary Court headed by the hardline Judge Abolghassem Salavati.

Iranian officials have not announced the charges Rezaian faces.