Rally and Chants Against Zarif and Talks with America in Front of Iran’s Foreign Ministry
“Students, clerics and people” gathered in protest against Zarif’s remarks about the possibility of negotiations with America even after the killing of Qasem Soleimani and called for his resignation. The Foreign Ministry also defended Zarif’s “principled positions” by issuing a statement.
Fars News Agency reported that on Monday evening, January 27, students, clerics and people gathered in front of the Foreign Ministry building to protest Zarif’s remarks about “the possibility of negotiations with America even after the killing of Qasem Soleimani”.
Protesters expressed their opposition to any negotiations with America by chanting slogans and asked Zarif to apologize to the people for his recent remarks.
Gatherers carried placards that read: “Mr. Zarif, Foreign Minister of which country are you?”, “Zarif, have shame, abandon the Foreign Ministry!”
Protesters chanted: “Negotiating with the enemy is stabbing the homeland”, “We don’t want the American government”.
Gatherers also set the American flag on fire.
Media outlets close to the IRGC also reported that “students, clerics and people” in Mashhad, Qom and Tabriz were planning to hold similar rallies.
What did Zarif say in his interview with Der Spiegel?
The protest rally in front of the Foreign Ministry building was a reaction to remarks made by Iran’s Foreign Minister in an interview with the German magazine “Der Spiegel”. Zarif had said in this interview that negotiations with America are possible even after the killing of Qasem Soleimani. The interview was published in Der Spiegel on Friday, January 24.
In part of this interview, in response to Der Spiegel’s question about whether talks with America would continue after Soleimani’s killing, Zarif said: “It makes no difference to us who rules in the White House. What matters is their behavior. The Trump administration can correct its behavior, lift sanctions, and return to the negotiating table. We are still at the negotiating table, but they have abandoned it. The United States has imposed great suffering on the Iranian people. A day will come when they are forced to compensate for it. We are patient.”
Zarif’s remarks also provoked a reaction from Donald Trump, the US President. Trump rejected the Iranian Foreign Minister’s remarks about “the possibility of talks after Soleimani’s killing” by sending a tweet saying: “No thanks”.
Despite Trump’s rejection of negotiations, “the exchange of tweets” between Zarif and Trump surprised analysts as they considered it an unprecedented “Twitter communication and debate”.
Statement by Iran’s Foreign Ministry
Simultaneously with this rally, a statement was issued by Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
In this statement, Mohammad Javad Zarif’s “principled positions” in his conversation with Der Spiegel were defended. The statement also emphasized that creating a dichotomy of “negotiation – non-negotiation” in the current conditions of foreign policy and the domestic electoral atmosphere would have destructive effects on the country’s national interests and public trust in society.
The statement said that America is trying to present an “anti-negotiation” image of Iran, while the Foreign Ministry defended “legal negotiations within the framework of the JCPOA Joint Commission in contrast to negotiations outside the JCPOA that the lawless American government is pursuing”.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry, without mentioning the protest rally in front of the ministry building, announced that sometimes “higher authorities” promote incorrect interpretations of the Foreign Ministry’s performance, which unfortunately “is being exploited by media outlets and political entities hostile to Iran”.
Source: DW
