Zarif Diary on US-Iran Breakthrough

Hello Friends,

            It is 5:14 a.m. on Friday. Have you heard yesterday’s news? It was a busy and productive day for the president and me. But I want to begin my report with the sweetest parts of the yesterday’s program. The president met with over a thousand Iranians who had come from all corners of America. I must ask for forgiveness from all of the friends who came but could not enter due to lack of space. Of course, I only heard about this at the end of the session.
             Professor Mahdavi Damghani gave a speech that was so full of grace. Children sang songs. The president gave a great, epic speech that highlighted the leading role of the Iranian people, both inside and outside the country, [in building a] better Iran today and tomorrow. [The speech also marked] the memorial week for the brave soldiers of the holy defense [the 1980-1988 war with Iraq]. The speech came together so beautifully.
            The president wanted from the people, as Hafiz [ a famous 14th-century poet] said, to “be faithful, endure the blame, and rejoice. Because on our path, to despair is sacrilege.”
            People applauded dozens of times. And the entire room stood and applauded several times. Their eyes were full of tears. The people were so magnanimous that instead of eating dinner, I spent two hours among the guests on behalf of the president. My fatigue from all of yesterday’s work went away. I do not know if this program was broadcast live on television or not, but I hope it was aired so that you can share in all the joy that my staff and I had.

      Other programs from yesterday included the president’s speech to American intellectuals and political elites. I only attended the end of the session due to the P5+1 negotiations [with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States]. But apparently it was broadcast live on the news. The meeting was very good and constructive. Like previous days, the president and I had numerous bilateral talks.

 

            Before the P5 +1 negotiations, I convened a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Palestine committee as chairman. Due to the P5+1 talks, I only stayed for half an hour of the session. I gave my permission to Iran’s permanent representative to continue the meeting.
            The P5 +1 meeting was a good start. Now we must patiently [walk] the steep and difficult path to the outcome of the next discussions. One day, I hope to report everything I said during these sessions to you all so you see that there is no need to depart from the direct course [Iran’s principles] to have good negotiations. I spoke with explicit emphasis and without compliments on the illegality of Iran’s nuclear case [being sent] to the U.N. Security Council, and the resulting unlawful and useless unilateral sanctions. Then I had to show flexibility and talk more about the future and the way towards a solution without abandoning these positions. Later, I explained Iran’s strategic perspective, its goal to prove its nuclear program is peaceful and why they [world powers] should aim to ensure that Iran’s [uranium] enrichment program is for peaceful purposes and accept IAEA [U.N. watchdog] monitoring. In the end, the solution was raised. All the ministers welcomed your humble servant’s speech and committed to achieving the same goal. Intensive negotiations have been planned for the end of October.
            We had separate bilateral meetings with all of the P5+1 ministers in previous days, except for Mr. [John] Kerry. At the end of the session, we all shook hands and said goodbye. I then spoke to Mr. Kerry for about thirty minutes on the sidelines. He emphasized the U.S. president’s commitment to reach a negotiated solution based on mutual respect. His words during the P5+1 session and in an interview afterwards were positive. Other ministers were also positive and hopeful for the future.
            However, my dear friends, the work has just begun. We have a long road ahead of us. We must embark on it with hard work and effort. We must focus on solutions based on peoples’ rights, interests and welfare and avoid wasteful advertising. [The negotiations] will be as short as possible, but let us not forget, however, to have patience and prudence.

            I know that I have your blessings and always need them.
            Today I must administer the annual meeting of Non-Aligned Movement foreign ministers. The president will give a speech as the movement’s chairman at the beginning of this session and then head to dear Islamic Iran. I cannot send him off because I must run the session until the evening.
            I hope to meet again — God bless you all and dear Iran.