Amid Secret Diplomacy, US & Iran Said…

 

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

 

“These ongoing negotiations - part of which is conducted with the Americans - are only related to nuclear matters. They are only related to these matters. In the present time, we have no negotiations with America on any other matter. There is no other matter. Everyone should know this. We do not negotiate with the Americans on regional issues, different domestic issues and international issues. Today, the only matter for negotiation is the nuclear matter. This will become an experience for us. If the other side stops its usual obstinacy, this will be an experience for us and we will find out that we can negotiate with it over other matters as well. But if we see that they continue to behave in the same obstinate and deviant way, well, our previous experience will naturally be strengthened.”

“The next point is that our policy towards the arrogant government of America will not change in any way despite these negotiations and the document that has been prepared. As we have said many times, we have no negotiations with America on different global and regional issues. We have no bilateral negotiations with America. Sometimes, we have negotiated with them in exceptional cases such as the nuclear issue and we have done so because of our interests. The nuclear issue was not the only case. There were other cases as well which I have referred to in my previous public speeches. The American policies in the region are 180 degrees the opposite of the policies of the Islamic Republic. The Americans accuse Hezbollah and the Lebanese Resistance - who are the most self-sacrificing forces in their country in the area of national defense - of terrorism. There is no injustice worse than this. This is while they support the terrorist child-killing government of Zionism. How can one do business, negotiate and reach an agreement with such a policy? There are other cases as well and I will expand on them in other speeches.”

 

“America does not even hide its enmity, rather it divides its responsibilities. One of them smiles and another prepares a bill against the Islamic Republic. This is a kind of dividing responsibilities. They pursue something called "negotiations", but negotiations are just an excuse and a tool for penetration. Negotiations are an instrument for imposing their demands. We agreed to negotiate with the Americans only on the nuclear issue because of certain reasons that we have frequently mentioned. Well, our officials did so. Thankfully, our negotiators had a good performance in this arena, but we did not allow them to negotiate with America on other matters.

 

“We are willing to negotiate with the whole world, but we will not negotiate with America. We are men of negotiation and understanding on a governmental, public - people from other countries - and religious level. We are men of negotiation and we negotiate with everyone except for America.”

 

“Negotiation with the U.S. is forbidden, because of the numerous disadvantages that it has and the benefits that it doesn't have, this is different to negotiating with a state which has no such facilities and no such motivation [against Iran].”

 

 

“We solved the nuclear issue at the negotiating table. We are capable of settling other regional and global issues through negotiations as well.” 

 

“I am telling U.S. authorities and politicians that you should decide and make a major shift in policy.”

“If the Americans take the appropriate steps and set them free, certainly the right environment will be open and the right circumstances will be created for us to do everything within our power and our purview to bring about the swiftest freedom for the Americans held in Iran as well.”

 

“One day these embassies will re-open but what counts is behavior and the Americans hold the key to this.”

 

“If they [Americans] modify their policies, correct errors committed in these 37 years and apologize to the Iranian people, the situation will change and good things can happen.”

 

Question (The New Yorker): What would be next on the U.S.-Iran agenda?

 

Zarif: I’ll take one step at a time. But I’ll take firm steps. And you saw that that works. We took a firm step; we did not confuse the nuclear issue with other issues. People were talking, were saying we had to mix other issues. We stayed on message, as you say in campaigns, and we were able to crack this very difficult issue. If we stay on the same line and continue good-faith implementation of J.C.P.O.A., then we have a possibility to create some confidence that would enable us to deal with other issues.

 

 

“There are practical ways of course [to free Americans held in Iran]. For example, there is a number of Iranians in prison here [in the United States]. Definitely for matters of this sort, one can come up with solutions. I think your politicians know about those ways… That's one way [prisoner exchange]. There are other ways that the judiciary systems of the two countries can come up with. It is the judiciary that has to decide about it.”

 

 

 

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, during these weeks and months of exhausting negotiations and discussions with the Iranians, was there ever an opportunity to raise the issue of the four Americans being held by the Iranians? And if so, if there was, did you get any indication of their status or their prospects perhaps for release?

 

KERRY: Mike, there was not a meeting that took place – not one meeting that took place – believe me, that’s not an exaggeration – where we did not raise the issue of our American citizens being held. And in fact, it was the last conversation that I had with the foreign minister at the Vienna Center. Right before we went out publicly, I talked to him the last time about that. We remain very, very hopeful that Iran will make a decision to do the right thing and to return those citizens to the United States. And we are consistently, constantly, even now, continuing to work on that.