Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was interrupted by shouts and criticism several times during his address to the Iranian Parliament, or Majles, on Monday, with one lawmaker shouting, “We don’t like hearing lies!”
However, Zarif said that even though they belittled him, insulted him and called him a liar, “With the utmost humility, I bring myself before the nation’s representatives and willingly accept the talk and the insults.”
Zarif added that despite the abuse, he was obligated to hear them out as the representatives of the great nation of Iran.
“I must do it willingly, and I must thank you. I thank you for your criticism, even though you belittle me,” said Zarif.
He added that while they had called him a “lowlife,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had called him brave.
“You have called me a liar, while [Khamenei] has said I am sincere,” said Zarif.
He said that he used to meet and coordinate on a weekly basis with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in January, and he warned the Majles: “We are all in the same boat ... America does not distinguish between liberals, reformists, conservatives, revolutionaries and non-revolutionaries. The Zionist regime does not distinguish between reformists and conservatives. The Zionist regime opposes Iran in its entirety, and it opposes Iran’s territorial integrity.”
Only those who knew “the martyr” Soleimani and those close to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and who were familiar with the “resistance” in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, knew his true relationship with them, said Zarif.
The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, he added, was a “certificate of honor” for Iran and would always remain so. Zarif was heavily involved in the negotiations over the JCPOA.
“The JCPOA was forced upon America. Allah willing, history and the future will show this. The JCPOA is a certificate of honor for Iran and it will remain this way. Allah willing, it will be written in this country’s history books.”
