
© Dances with BearsIran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
At the conclusion of their most recent meeting in Tehran on April 13, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (lead image, right)
said of his Iranian counterpart, "we have held good talks with my friend, Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif [left], in a traditionally trustful and friendly atmosphere". Lavrov didn't know that, a few days earlier, Zarif had told an Iranian interviewer in a confidential tape-recording that there was nothing trustful or even friendly about his attitude towards the Russians, especially Lavrov.
According to Zarif, whose remarks leaked to the
New York Times and other media on the weekend, "Russia did not want the agreement to succeed and 'put all its weight' behind creating obstacles because it was not in Moscow's interests for Iran to normalize relations with the West." To that end, Zarif claimed on tape, "General [of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qassem] Soleimani traveled to Russia to 'demolish our achievement', meaning the nuclear deal."
If that is what Zarif said, and that was all he said about Russia, and about Soleimani's trips to Moscow in 2015-2016, Zarif is lying.
Comment: It's all about selling the public on vaccinations and that remains the compelling reason Biden will not slip the mask. He mentions it 23 times in his recent press conference:
Biden cuts reporter's questions short: 'I'm really going to be in trouble'; full transcript