Kerry, Zarif hold impromptu talks on Iran nuclear deal
Hastily arranged meeting focused on implementing July agreement
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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry held an impromptu meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York on Friday to discuss steps to implement the Iran nuclear deal.
The meeting was scheduled at the last minute after a week of intense diplomacy on the Syria crisis.
US officials did not provide details, saying only that the talks focused on implementing the historic deal reached in July to curb Iran’s nuclear program. The two diplomats led their respective sides during the negotiations between world powers and the Islamic republic over the latter’s nuclear aspirations.
Zarif came under fire at home earlier this week for shaking hands with US President Barack Obama at the UN General Assembly, with an ultraconservative Iranian lawmaker branding it “unrevolutionary.”
The remarks came after Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency and international media outlets documented the impromptu encounter in New York on Monday.
“Dr. Zarif was leaving the hall when he accidentally faced Mr. Obama and John Kerry, who were about to enter. They briefly greeted each other and the two shook hands,” ISNA said, citing a source close to Iran’s UN delegation.
A White House source, speaking on grounds of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed Tuesday that “there was a brief interaction at the luncheon, where they shook hands.”
Although Kerry and Zarif shook hands numerous times during the nuclear talks, the handshake with Obama would be the first known between a US president and a top Iranian official since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Despite the nuclear deal, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the United States remains the “number one enemy” of the Islamic republic, a statement reiterated by lawmaker Mansour Haghighatpour.
“We hope this news is not confirmed because if Mr. Zarif has done such a thing, he has definitely ignored the system’s red lines,” Haghighatpour was quoted as saying by the Tasnim News Agency.
Haghighatpour is a member of a special committee established by parliament to review the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers led by the US.
The Times of Israel Community.