Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeIran News NowIran Nuclear NewsIRAN: Leakage of nuclear talks secrets infuriates Tehran leaders

IRAN: Leakage of nuclear talks secrets infuriates Tehran leaders

nuclear4-300

Arabic language daily Asharq al-Awsat*, London, 12 August 2015

Posting of statements made by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s deputy by the state media infuriated regime’s leaders although his remarks were later removed. These statements were made by Abbas Araqchi the chief Iranian negotiator in the nuclear talks with P5+1.

Mr. Mohammad Mohaddessin [Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran – NCRI] , an official responsible for the nuclear file in the Iranian opposition, told Ashraq al-Awsat that taking down Araqchi’s statements reflects the internal schism in the Iranian ruling clique.

Mr. Mohaddessin who is also Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) whose headquarters is in Paris, revealed the dispute between Iranian regime’s leaders following this private meeting. He said that Araqchi held this meeting with state radio and television heads and directors. He added that the meeting was held the first day of this month during which Araqchi acknowledged feeding false information to the nuclear agency.

According to Mohaddessin, the problem took on an explosive dimension when Iranian state media posted Araqchi’s remarks on their websites without paying attention to its unsuitable aspects, including that Iran does not plan to implement all articles of the UN resolution on its nuclear deal reached with the big powers a month ago.

The information and reports contained in Araqchi’s posted remarks were taken down in a short while. While no official statement from the Iranian regime could be obtained, Mr. Mohaddessin said that he has studied the statements related to Araqchi “but these remarks were quickly removed from the sites by a directive from regime’s Supreme National Security Council”.

He added that part of Araqchi’s statements in this meeting with the heads and directors of the state radio and television involved the controversial issue of the “exploding detonators” that were mistakably placed on the state radio and television newswire, but were quickly taken down.

Iran claims that these detonators are used in drilling for oil and gas and not for nuclear military purposes.
In his statements, Iranian regime deputy foreign minister and senior negotiator revealed that the Western countries were cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and gave this agency a lot of information “which made things worse. It was such that EBW or the exploding detonators was disclosed.”

In response to Asharq al-Awsat questions Mr. Mohaddessin said that among the erased statements of Araqchi that angered the leadership in Tehran was that senior officers in Iran’s Ministry of Defense were furious of the leak that disclosed the detonators to the IAEA.

He said that Araqchi told the heads and directors of state radio and television that “Friends at the Defense Ministry were pained of the leakage of information to the IAEA because it made things worse”. Mohaddessin explained that these statements by Araqchi “surface while the regime constantly tries to describe these exploding detonators as non-military and non-nuclear and claims that they have other purposes such as in the drilling for oil and gas.”

In the beginning of its negotiations with Iran that continued for about 10 years, IAEA had asked about groups in Iran’s Applied Physics Institute that were involved in “EBW” exploding detonators. At the time, regarding one individual that the IAEA wanted to interview on this issue, Tehran had replied that he had not been involved in the detonator’s project and that the request to purchase these detonators was “related to the Ministry of Petroleum for the purpose of drilling wells”.

Amongst the leaked information that were revealed during the meeting of Araqchi with state journalists and as Mr. Mohaddessin insists led to discord between senior leaders, is Zarif’s deputy remarks that the regime did not intend to disclose the Fordo site to the international community, but once it learned that the site had been disclosed to the IAEA, it was compelled to reveal it. “When we learned that Fordo has been disclosed, we took the initiative before it was announced and Mr. Soltania (Ali Asghar Soltania, then Iran’s representative at IAEA) was ordered to inform the IAEA about the existence of this site. He sent a letter to Mr. Baradei (Mohammad Baradei, former IAEA Director General) and declared this site.”

In the leaked remarks, Araqchi constantly emphasizes that “if we wanted to build our country’s nuclear program merely on its economic merits, it would be a great loss. Meaning that if we were to assess the cost of the produced material, it would be mindboggling”. Mr. Mohaddessin says that during the leaked remarks, Araqchi “brazenly talks about regime’s intention not to implement the Security Council Resolution 2231” which specifically concerns the nuclear agreement.

This information, according to sources and based on what was posted by the Iranian websites before the remarks were removed, demonstrate that the Iranian regime insists on its activities and intervention in regional affairs. Mr. Mohaddessin that is informed of this leaked information said that Araqchi insisted in the meeting that Tehran “would continue to assist its allies and friends in the region to confront terrorism and will ramp up its support of its friends and this is the official position of the foreign ministry… we cannot stop sending arms to Hezbollah. We shall not sacrifice them for our nuclear program. Thus, we shall continue with our work.”

Speaking on the consequences of the nuclear program for the Iranian regime and issues that may give rise to such discords, Mr. Mohaddessin stated that this agreement was not a victory [for the Iranian regime] as some people think, especially when we note the destruction of many redlines, including inspection of the military sites which is a redline drawn by the so-called leader of revolution Ali Khamenei.

He added that the resultant agreement was a product of a series of retreats by the regime and the breach of the red lines that Khamenei had personally and publicly reiterated upon. Mr. Mohaddessin added that it is no accident that regime’s officials call this agreement the chalice of poison. He elucidated that the clerical regime ruling in Tehran uses three main instruments to maintain its rule over the country ever since 1979. These three instruments are the nuclear program, the export of terrorism to the world, and the domestic crackdown on the opposition.

“In my opinion, the regime was compelled to abandon the first instrument of its rule. I therefore expect further discord amongst regime’s leaders at the top in addition to an escalation of domestic suppression and export of terrorism to the neighboring countries,” Mr. Mohaddessin added.

*Translated to English by NCR-Iran.org