Zarif-linked Iranian experts discuss better US ties

In Tehran, a panel of ex-officials with ties to former foreign minister Javad Zarif and more balanced foreign policy views suggested that external alliances could hinder Iran-US relations.

The event convened mere hours after Ismail Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran on Wednesday, centered on a 2014 US book that was only recently translated into Farsi and now brought to the forefront.

The discussion featured figures closely associated with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister and the current Deputy for Strategic Affairs to the new President, Masoud Pezeshkian.

The session, hosted by the news outlet Khabar Online, focused on identifying the obstacles to an improved Iran-US relationship. The discussion effectively challenged the idea that the establishment is inherently opposed to America, seemingly downplaying the Supreme Leader’s staunch anti-American stance and the "Death to the US" chants that echoed through the parliament during Pezeshkian’s inauguration the previous day.

“Tracing the Iran-US relationship from its inception, one observes that disruptions have consistently arisen due to third-party interference, historically by the Russians and the British and currently by Israel,” said Sassan Karimi, the session's host and an academic who conducted his postdoctoral research under Zarif's supervision at Tehran University.

The host further remarked that the most recent of these obstructive acts was Israel's assassination of Haniyeh in Iran, a maneuver aimed at derailing potential Iran-US relations.

“Whenever [Israel] senses that a de-escalation of tensions might occur [between the US and Iran], it resorts to such reckless behaviors,” he added.

One of the speakers, Diako Hosseini, Deputy of Economic Studies at the Chamber of Commerce, went as far as to challenge the reliance on China and Russia, identifying it as the principal impediment to fostering relations with the US.

“At the time of the Islamic Revolution, approximately 60% of America's oil was sourced from the Persian Gulf. Today, that figure has diminished to about 8%, with China now occupying that strategic position,” Hosseini said. The expert should have also noted that US oil production had substantially declined in the 1970s and China was not yet an industrial country. Now, US is an oil exporter.

He pointed out that today, Iran's nuclear issue is not the top priority for the US. "The main issue for the US, whether Democrats or Republicans, is China," he stated. "The challenge lies in Iran's alignment with the Russia-China camp, which poses a fundamental challenge for the US," he added.

Hosseini went on to voice a controversial opinion. "We must consider that even if we were to completely shut down Iran's nuclear program and hand them over to the US, American sanctions against Iran would still not be lifted."

Last week, Hosseini had remarked that 60% of Iran's imports originate from just two countries, China and the UAE, describing this as a significant national security threat.

The book that served as the focal point of the session, "US-Iran Misperceptions: A Dialogue," is a collaborative work by a former deputy foreign minister of Iran, an academic at Sharif University, and the former executive director of the MIT Center for International Studies, US.

The invited speakers at the panel included Majid Takht-Ravanchi, former Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations during President Hasan Rouhani, Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour former Advisor to the Minister Foreign Affairs on Strategic Issues appointed by Zarif and former Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative for the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations.

Another familiar face was Hossein Mousavian, who joined the panel as a speaker online. He is a Middle East Security and Nuclear Policy Specialist at Princeton University, and Tehran's ambassador to Germany from 1990 to 1997. Activists accuse him of involvement in the assassinations of at least 24 Iranian dissidents in Europe during the 1990s, leading to calls for his ouster from Princeton last year.

Political commentator Majid Mohammadi asserts that Zarif's trust in Mousavian, shown by his European representation during Zarif's tenure at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlights Mousavian's commitment to the establishment. Mohammadi, who conducted post-doctoral work at Princeton in 2007-2008, stated that during his time at Tehran's Resalat Daily in the late 1980s, Mousavian played a crucial role in legitimizing and promoting terrorism.

Hosseinian, who contributed a chapter to the book, emphasized during the meeting that including a section on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's views was crucial.

"Since the Supreme Leader is the main decision-maker regarding Iran-US relations, Americans must properly understand his ideas," he said.

It seems that Zarif, the architect of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, has already mobilized efforts to coordinate and amplify narratives aimed at engaging the US in familiar negotiation tactics, particularly with Democratic Party politicians. He has established a robust network abroad specifically for this purpose.

An investigative report by Iran International and Semafor in 2023 uncovered that during Zarif’s tenure as Foreign Minister, the Islamic Republic established the Iran Experts Initiative in the United States in the mid-2010s, with the aim of influencing American policy centers and the US government. This operation was orchestrated and overseen by officials under Zarif's direction.

A cadre of experts was enlisted to author articles and opinion pieces defending Tehran's stance on key issues, including Iran's nuclear program and sanctions.

But the crucial matter is, as Hosseinian admitted, Khamenei is the ultimate decision-maker. Critics of the Islamic government content that Khamenei strategically using Zarif as a chess piece to navigate Iran out of its dire economic straits.