U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has held a one-on-one meeting with Iran’s foreign minister and says he is pleased with a new positive tone from Iran on talks over its disputed nuclear program. The brief encounter between Kerry and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at UN headquarters in New York on September 26 […]
Tag: zarif
Facebook and Twitter Blocked Again in Iran After Respite
Internet users in Iran lost access Tuesday to Facebook and Twitter, a day after they were surprised to find that they could get on the sites without having to evade a government’s firewall that had blocked direct access to the Web sites for years. Iranian officials said that a technical glitch resulted in the […]
Iran Minister FB Post Condemns Holocaust
A message issued on the Facebook page of Iran’s foreign minister condemns the massacre of Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II. The post on the page of Mohammad Javad Zarif also condemns “the massacre of Palestinians by the Zionists.” Condemnation of the Holocaust by a senior Iranian official would mark […]
Iranian Foreign Ministry To Lead Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Hassan Rohani has announced the Foreign Ministry will lead nuclear talks with world powers. The announcement was made on September 5 on the president’s website. No further details were provided, but the arrangement suggests Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will either lead future negotiations or appoint another ministry official. Zarif, a former […]
Should We Believe What We Hear?
It is the first time that an official of the Islamic republic of Iran has expressly used language that criticizes the earlier foreign policy of the country. At the ceremony introducing Mohammad Javad Zarif (Zarif in Persian means delicate) as the new foreign minister to the staff of the foreign ministry, president Hassan Rowhani […]
In A First, Top Iranian Government Official Admits To Being On Facebook
It was a small step for Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, but it could be a giant leap for Internet users in the Islamic republic, who have long fought against online censorship. The U.S.-educated Zarif acknowledged on August 14 that he and his family maintain a fan page on Facebook, the social-media site […]
Iran’s ‘Olive Branch’ Foreign Minister Nominee Makes His Case In Parliament
When Iran’s new president nominated Mohammad Javad Zarif, a U.S.-educated former United Nations diplomat, to be foreign minister, some observers described the move as a possible “olive branch” to the West. But within Iran, it appears that’s not necessarily a good thing. At an August 13 parliamentary hearing convened to consider President Hassan Rohani’s […]