Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Iran, June 14, 2019 – Following German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas’ fruitless visit to Tehran and his meetings with Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, media outlets close to the regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attacked Rouhani’s camp and especially targeted Zarif for the failure.
“During the course of a joint press conference, both in his statements and facial mimics, and even when he was walking beside Zarif, Maas behaved arrogant and rude, and claimed we can’t create miracles. That’s while over one month has passed in regards to the Islamic Republic’s 60-day ultimatum to Europe,” Khamenei’s mouthpiece Keyhan daily wrote.
The Javan newspaper, close to Khamenei’s camp, also published an article titled “The old European package: Demands instead of guarantee” on this sensitive subject.
“Contrary to the 2015 nuclear deal’s second appendix, Europe is only intent on attempting to keep the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), while the visit of Germany’s Foreign Minister or other European officials to Tehran needs to be based on the important principle of ‘presenting actual guarantees’ to cover Iran’s economic, trade and financial interests.”
The JCPOA was the deal the Obama administration, along with its European signatories, Russia and China, reached with Tehran back in 2015. The JCPOA is more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
As declared before, the current U.S. administration exited the deal in May 2018 for its lack of handling the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile program and its malevolent activities throughout the Middle East and around the world. The U.S. sanctions that were suspended by the deal began returning into effect in November 2018.
“Since last May, the Europeans have threatened and insisted on the necessity of Iran respecting the JCPOA provisions and obligations, while simultaneously insisting that they can’t provide for Iran’s interests in the JCPOA,” the article continues.
Javan newspaper, close to the blacklisted Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), adds further concerns.
“The disorderly, who’ve chosen the name of a union for themselves, have sent their representative to Tehran to say here behind the podium that Europe can’t implement the JCPOA without the will of the U.S., but we don’t accept it from the Islamic Republic to spare any effort from the JCPOA! In light of this, why was his visit to Iran facilitated [in the first place]? If Maas’ visit bore no fruits, at least it showed what type of JCPOA the Europeans expect to be implemented. A JCPOA that Iran implements but not Europe!”
Hamid Reza Assefi, Iran’s former ambassador to France and a former adviser to the foreign minister during Khatami’s tenure, voiced his share of concerns.
“Maas’ statements showed that he came to Tehran empty-handed. Not only hasn’t Europe stood up to compensate the damages inflicted by the U.S., but has cooperated with the United States against the [Iranian] regime on different issues.”
Ebtekar newspaper from Hassan Rouhani’s faction writes: “Maas’ talks with Zarif, and later with Rouhani, showed that Europe isn’t able to design a ‘win-win’ game amid tensions that right now, it appears, have reached their boiling point in the Iran-U.S. relations.”
