Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has said the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 “destroyed” planned talks with the US to resurrect the 2015 nuclear deal.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Zarif said talks were supposed to begin on reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – which he helped negotiate in 2015 as foreign minister – on 9 October.
The agreement signed in 2015 was later revoked during Donald Trump’s first term as president in 2018.
“We did not know about 7 October… We were supposed to have a meeting with the Americans on JCPOA renewal on 9 October, which was undermined and destroyed by this operation,” he told the conference.
A number of commentators accused Iran of involvement in the 7 October attack, which both Iran and the US have denied.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on
Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Zarif said Hamas, which Iran has long provided financial and military support for, “always worked for their own cause, even at our expense”.
“We never tried to cash [in on] our investment in the region,” he said.
The 2015 nuclear deal offered Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for guarantees that Tehran would not acquire nuclear weapons.
Iran nuclear deal: The JCPOA explained
Read More »
Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons, saying it only wants to develop its nuclear programme for energy generation.
During his first term, President Trump reimposed harsh sanctions as part of a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran.
Zarif told the WEF that if Iran had wanted to build a nuclear weapon, it could “have done it a long time ago”.
“I hope that this time around, a ‘Trump 2’ will be more serious, more focused, more realistic,” he added.
