In a speech that he delivered at a January 3, 2014 political activists' conference in Mashhad (northeastern Iran), Majlis representative Mohammad Nabavian, a member of Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi's radical faction, said that despite its disinterest in a bomb Iran in fact does need one, in order to create a balance of terror vis-a-vis Israel.
In his address, Nabavian cited statements made by members of Iran's negotiating team – President Hassan Rohani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and his deputy Abbas Araqchi – to the Majlis on the course of the three rounds of the Geneva talks in October-November 2013. According to him, they said that during Rohani's September 2013 visit to New York, the White House had pleaded with him to meet with President Obama or at least talk with him by telephone. They also stated that Secretary of State John Kerry told the Iranian team about the vigorous protests that he had heard from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu before arriving in Geneva for the talks.
It should be noted that the Tasnim website, which was the first to quote Nabavian's statements, removed the part about the nuclear bomb, but it was published on other sites as well.
Mohammad Nabavian (Image: Baharnews.ir, January 3, 2014)
Below are the main points of Nabavian's speech, as quoted by the moderate conservative website Asr-e Iran:[1]
"We had a few sessions on the nuclear issue at the Majlis with [Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad] Zarif, [Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas] Araqchi, [Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht] Ravanchi and [Foreign Ministry spokeswoman] Marzieh Afkham, and one session in which President [Hassan Rohani] personally participated…
"...The [nuclear] agreement [with the P5+1] contains five clauses: a preamble, first step, interim step, final step and final conclusion. The first part determined from the outset that the objective of the negotiations was to reach a plan that would guarantee to both sides that Iran's nuclear program is purely civilian… The U.S. says: 'Never before did we succeed in ensuring Israel's security like we did today [by means of the agreement]. If a certain country has 270 kg [of enriched uranium at a level of] 20% and 10 tons [of enriched uranium at a level of] 5%, and 20,000 centrifuges, it will be in a breakout position and could manufacture a nuclear bomb on the uranium [track] within two weeks.' We don't aspire to obtain a nuclear bomb, but it is necessary so we can put Israel in its place…"
The Americans Courted Rohani And Sought A Meeting
"At the meeting we had with the president, Rohani said: 'After I won the elections, Obama relayed a message to me, [even] before [my September 2013] visit to New York. The White House contacted me five times seeking a meeting.' Now the question must be asked: Why does this superpower insist on meeting Iran's president… while calling us a third-world [country]?
"Rohani said: During my journey to New York, I arrived at the hotel on Monday night and again they contacted me from the White House. I assembled the delegation accompanying me and we decided not to meet [with Obama]. On Tuesday afternoon after the press conference, they said to me, 'why did you humiliate Obama and America?', and I said there was no humiliation. Here I recalled the words of the Imam [Khomeini] who said that one must humiliate the infidel leaders.
"The next part comes from [Foreign Minister] Zarif, who said: 'Wednesday and Thursday passed, and on Friday they contacted me five times from the White House and said that there should at least be a courtesy telephone conversation.' I asked why a superpower needs to meet or ask us how we are.
"If Obama asked for a meeting five times before the visit to New York and several times during the visit, it's because over these eight years measures were taken [by Iran] and, as a result, the United States [now] needs Iran. In Syria, the U.S. did not manage to attack and was humiliated. In practice, Obama was humiliated because he did not stand up to Iran, and hence it is necessary to meet with Iran's president to show that he is a strong man and tell the world: I brought Iran to the negotiating table after 30 years. That's why following the telephone call, this message – 'we negotiated with Iran' – was reported to the world..."
Iran Signed The Agreement To Free Itself Of The Oil And Banking Sanctions
"Forty-nine percent of our budget depends on oil [revenue]. This is a very high figure. This means that half our budget comes from oil money. In [March 2012-March 2013,] we had to sell 2,700,000 barrels of oil daily to supply the budget. Now take into account banking sanctions [even] more severe than the oil sanctions. Since June 2012 all the world's banks have been barred to us and we don't have permission to exchange even a dollar. Think of it, even if we sold 2,700,000 barrels of oil [a day], how could we have conducted the financial transactions? Finally, Putin sent the governor of his central bank directly [to Tehran] to secure alleviations in the field of money transfers and barter trade. Likewise, China transferred to our account 10 billion toman from the blocked funds."
The Negotiations With The Americans Progressed Rapidly, But Ran Into Problems With The Europeans
"At a Foreign Ministry meeting... Araqchi said that at Geneva 2 [i.e., the second round of the Geneva talks that took place on November 7-10, 2013], the head [of the Iranian negotiating team] had a working breakfast with his counterpart [on the other side, Catherine] Ashton. She placed a text on the table and said: 'This is the E.U. draft; agree to it'. Zarif was displeased with this and persuaded her that this was not what we had agreed upon.
"Araqchi added: 'The [general] negotiations began and the [bilateral] negotiations with the Americans progressed rapidly, and in this manner we obtained 90% agreement and 10% disagreement [with the Americans]. Finally, [the head of the American negotiating team] Wendy Sherman contacted [Secretary of State] John Kerry [asking him] to come. Kerry arrived on Friday afternoon [from Israel] and said that in the morning he had met with [Prime Minister] Netanyahu and his ears were [still] ringing from his [Netanyahu's] screams.' Later on Araqchi referred to the presence of [French Foreign Minister Laurent] Fabius [at the negotiations], saying: 'Fabius arrived and looked at the text that was the agreement with the Americans. He drew a line through three of its issues and finally a third text was created that was unacceptable to us and we returned to Iran.'"
Zarif And Araqchi Refused To Disclose The Contents Of The Negotiations With The Majlis
Nabavian continued: "The chairman of the Majlis National Security [and Foreign Policy] Committee, [Alaeddin] Boroujerdi, said to deputy Foreign Minister Araqchi: What were those 90% agreement and 10% disagreement [about], and what were the three issues that Fabius scratched out?' Araqchi responded that this was classified. [And I ask:] Does this [information] not concern the Majlis members? The negotiating team made this remark [about the information being classified] at the Majlis not once, not twice, but on several occasions. The Iranian nation has the right to know [the content of the negotiations] and the Majlis representatives are part of this nation. Zarif said: even if you summoned me to an impeachment vote I still wouldn't say anything. I told Zarif that, according to the Majlis' internal bylaws it is our right to know. I added: Allow us to be cautious with you. [We remember] who imposed resolution 598 [i.e., the decision to end the 1980-1988 war with Iraq] upon the Imam [Khomeini] – these were people like [Ali Akbar Hashemi] Rafsanjani and his deputy Rohani, who were on the negotiating team in 2003 that caused the freeze [on enrichment]. Let me say explicitly that I told Zarif and Araqchi 1,000 times that they should tell the people sincerely what [they] gave in the [Geneva] agreement and what [they] did not get. The agreement is called a Joint Plan of Action, and this means that it is no agreement but [merely] a declaration…"
Endnote:
[1] Asriran.com, January 3, 2014.
