Zarif and his nuclear team have not and will not cross the red lines

Rumors that the Iranian nuclear negotiating team has brushed aside the country’s red lines and clinched a final deal, on the sly, with P5+1 have drawn mixed reactions from Iranian political figures, with some condemning and some others denying the purported deal.

Tasnim News Agency on October 30 ran a brief interview with the head of the Expediency Council’s Center for Strategic Research Ali Akbar Velayati after his meeting with Deputy UN Secretary General Jan Eliasson. The following is the translation of what Velayati, who is also a foreign policy advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and a former foreign minister, had to tell Tasnim:

Velayati rejected reports on conclusion of a deal between Iran’s negotiators and P5+1 and said, “It is out of the question. We are sure that Mr. Zarif and the nuclear team will not cross the [country’s] red lines.”

He also dismissed speculations that the nuclear team has failed to take into consideration the Islamic establishment’s red lines before cutting the purported deal and said Iran’s negotiators abide by the establishment’s rules and do not overstep what the Supreme Leader has defined as red lines.

“We are sure that [Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad] Zarif and his nuclear team will not overstep the mark and will carry on advancing Iran’s objectives in line with what the Islamic establishment has endorsed,” said the advisor.