Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday sharply criticized former president Hassan Rouhani and ex-foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, saying their recent remarks had undermined Tehran’s growing strategic cooperation with Russia.
Ghalibaf said in a parliamentary address that the government’s coordinated diplomatic efforts with Moscow and Beijing, including a recent joint letter to the United Nations rejecting Western efforts to revive UN sanctions, marked a “legal and strategic victory” for Iran.
He accused Rouhani and Zarif of harming this progress “at a sensitive time” with their statements, without elaborating.
During Sunday’s open session, several lawmakers were also heard chanting “Death to Fereydoun” -- referring to Rouhani by his birth surname.
Amirhossein Sabeti, a lawmaker from Tehran, said Rouhani “belongs behind bars.”
Rouhani and Zarif recently criticized Russia’s role in the negotiations that led to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), accusing Moscow of contributing to the creation of the snapback mechanism that paved the way for the reimposition of UN sanctions last month.
Iran says UN Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal, has expired, ending all restrictions. Tehran has repeatedly said that its nuclear rights remain intact, accused the US and Europe of breaching the accord, and that Russia and China backed its position against Western efforts to reimpose UN sanctions.
“China and Russia, as two permanent members of the UN Security Council, have stood firmly alongside Iran, signaling that the era of US and Western unilateralism has come to an end.”
Ghalibaf said the structure of the international system now reflects the emergence of a new era in which China, Russia, Iran, and the 120 members of the Non-Aligned Movement have “legally ended the misuse of international institutions” and are resisting the unlawful dominance of the United States and its European allies -- a shift that, Ghalibaf added, will help weaken the impact of sanctions on Iran.
