Zarif Dismisses Story on Iran’s Contact with Biden Team
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday denied a report carried by Le Figaro that the Iranian UN envoy has held talks with a representative of incoming US President Joe Biden’s administration in New York.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session in Tehran, Zarif rejected the French daily’s report on negotiations between Iran’s UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi and an envoy from the new US administration.
“It’s interesting that Le Figaro’s reporter has not checked to see that Mr. Takht Ravanchi had been in Iran in that period and has been kept in quarantine for one week after going back to New York,” the foreign minister said.
Referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Zarif reiterated that Iran would by no means renegotiate a robust agreement that had been already agreed upon. “Whatever is or is not in the deal has been concluded under the agreement.”
In a report on Tuesday, Le Figaro claimed that Iran and the new US administration have quietly held talks for the past three weeks to prepare for a return of the US to the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
