Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif resorted to screaming at his counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, when conducting negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, the Associated Press reports from comments provided by Iran’s Shargh news.
“The exalted Supreme Leader told me not to quarrel… he asked: ‘Why do you scream? Smile and speak your mind,’” Zarif reportedly told a group of Tehran students regarding his conversation with the Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s dictator.
The news may come as a shock to many Americans, as such a volatile breach of diplomatic protocol is almost unheard of outside of North Korea when dealing with sovereign states in the 21st century.
Zarif’s apparent lack of respect for America’s chief diplomat comes as many worry that the United States is prepared to surrender to eighty percent of Tehran’s demands. Such a deal would allow for Iran to reach nuclear breakout capacity almost imminently, according to reports.
The AP fails to report that Shargh news, like all of Iran’s news outlets, is completely controlled by the State. Because all of the media in Iran is tightly censored, monitored and reviewed before publication, there are few means to verify whether the report is simply disinformation meant to portray the Ayatollah as the “good cop” to Zarif’s “bad cop.”
Portraying the Ayatollah as the “good cop” projects Iran’s dictator as the calming, sober presence in the room. However, reality proves Khamenei as a Caliphatist radical who desires the destruction of America and its allies.
This past summer, Khamenei pledged to destroy the United States through “battle and jihad.” He has also on several occasions questioned whether the Holocaust “actually did happen.” The “Supreme Leader,” who has ultimate authority and can single-handedly order a nuclear strike if he so chooses, has publicly spoken to his belief that Iran must trigger “the end of times” for the last Islamic messiah to appear. To do so, under Shiite theology, two-thirds of the world’s population must be wiped off of the planet.