Mohammad Javad Zarif has been an accomplice of all the crimes of the clerical regime in Iran in the past 41 years. He is the foreign minister of a regime that in the November 2019 nationwide uprising in Iran:
- Killed more than 1,500 protesters whose identities remain secret, most of them adolescents and teenagers as young as 13
- Detained at least 12,000 protesters whose fate remains unknown
- Injured thousands of peaceful protesters with direct live fire and brutal attacks by security forces.
Tehran’s chief ‘diplomat terrorist’
Following the U.S. designation of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization” in April 2019, Zarif went to the IRGC’s headquarters and expressed his full support for this entity and described the meeting as an “honor” for him.
A Look at the Record of #Iran Regime Foreign Minister Javad #Zarif https://t.co/oLFF8FLB55#No2Rouhani #BlackListRouhani #FreeIran
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 25, 2019
The Iranian regime Foreign Ministry, under Zarif’s watch, actively provide diplomatic cover for Tehran’s terrorists and facilitate their operations.
- As foreign minister, Zarif is in charge of Iran’s legion of so-called ambassadors and diplomatic staff around the world, which he has used in tandem with the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the IRGC Quds Force to implement terrorist operations around the world in violation of Iran’s commitments to the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations. The Foreign Ministry which Zarif directs is subordinate to the regime’s MOIS and Quds Force.
- In June 2018, a senior diplomat from the regime’s embassy in Vienna was caught red-handed as he was handing explosives to terrorist agents. Assadollah Assadi, Zarif’s diplomat, and three terrorists were arrested in a joint operation by the German, French and Belgian intelligence services, all of whom are now in prison in Belgium, awaiting trial on charges of terrorism.
#Khamenei, #Rouhani Ordered Bomb Attach Against #FreeIran2018 Gathering in #Paris
he German Federal Prosecutor announced in its statement on July 11 that German judiciary had ordered the arrest of Assadollah Assadi, a mullahs’ terrorist diplomat, on…https://t.co/OdkiAAcIEx pic.twitter.com/R6eFZqGQQi— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 12, 2018
- Assadollah Assadi, the MOIS station chief in Vienna and head of MOIS for all Europe, was the terrorist mastermind. He was caught delivering a powerful bomb to two other Iranian agents on the day of June Paris event. Germany expelled Assadi to Belgium to stand trial.
- After Assadi, the Iranian regime had its second “diplomat” implicated as France expelled an Iranian diplomat for involvement in the attack and froze some assets. There are three other agents of the regime on trial in Belgium in connection to this horrific terror plot.
Belgium Extends Sentence for #Iran'ian Regime Terrorist Involved in Plot Against Opposition Conference
According to Belga news agency, the verdict was given by the first branch of Antwerp’s criminal court. The verdict underlines that Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian regime… pic.twitter.com/u79YaJdjM5— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 23, 2019
- Albanian intelligence officers uncovered a plot to detonate a bomb at a Nowruz (Iranian New Year) gathering of members of the People’s Mojahedin (Mujahedin-e-Khalq, MEK or PMOI) in Tirana in March 2017. Two MOIS agents, together with the regime’s Ambassador Mohammadnia and senior diplomat Roodaki, were expelled from the country by Albanian authorities.
#PolandSummit When Mullah’s Regime #Terrorist bomb attacks against #FreeIran gatherings in France &in Albania Failed& #Iran rgm's diplomat #Terrorist got arrested, MOIS Agents &lobbies resorted to spread #Fakenews to demonize #MEK https://t.co/fzgojV5ROi @USAdarFarsi
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 20, 2019
- In October 2018, the Iranian regime sent another senior MOIS agent — Mohammad Davoudzadeh Lului — with close ties to the Iranian Embassy and its ambassador in Norway, to assassinate an opposition figure in Denmark. He too now awaits trial on terrorism charges.
- Also, in 2018 two Iranian diplomats were expelled from the Netherlands for acts of terror.
- In January 2020, Albanian authorities expelled two other diplomats for their involvement in terrorist plots and closed down a so-called cultural center affiliated to the regime’s embassy.
- Zarif’s European trip in August 2019 was met with various protests by Iranians supporters of the MEK. Following these protests, Zarif became angry and threatened the Iranian dissidents with death, saying they will be “eaten alive” if they return to Iran.
- According to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV network, Zarif pledged to continue support for Hezbollah, although the Iranian regime itself anticipated 70 percent of the Iranian people sliding under the poverty line by the end of 2019. Reports indicate Zarif’s Foreign Ministry has provided $100 million to Hezbollah.
- On 13 May 2016, Zarif described Mustafa Badreddin, the senior Lebanese Hezbollah commander in Syria recently killed near Damascus, as a “great and tireless man” and “full of love, sensation and epic in defending the rightful causes of Islam.” Back in January 2014 Zarif laid a wreath and paid his respects to former Hezbollah military commander Emad Muqniye.
- On 11 February 2019, Zarif met with Hassan Nasrollah, head of Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group, in Beirut. Nasrollah expressed his gratitude for the Iranian regime’s ongoing support and Zarif assured him of the regime’s commitment to continue its support.
- In a visit to Damascus, Zarif met with Bashar Assad on 13 August 2015. In his meeting he denounced ’foreign interference’ in the Syrian crisis and ironically emphasized the country’s sovereignty. This is while Iran’s regime does not hide the fact that several thousand of its IRGC forces and high ranking commanders are militarily engaged within Syria in support of the Syrian dictator that has led to tens of thousands of deaths among innocent civilians, including thousands of children, and millions made homeless living as refugees within and outside the country.
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Zarif and domestic suppression
Zarif himself is no stranger to crimes against humanity committed by the mullahs’ regime throughout its history. He was an active senior career diplomat in Tehran’s UN mission back in 1988 while the mullahs’ regime was sending over 30,000 political prisoners – mostly members and supporters of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) – to the gallows at a rate of around 150 a day.
It is common knowledge that Zarif represents Iran’s regime, known to have the highest number of executions per capita, be the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the primary source of crisis and chaos in the Middle East region and beyond, and continues to be the main patron of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad in his massacre of the people of Syria. Zarif, the “moderate,” literally boasts about his strong ties with such figures as Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Imad Mughniyah and Qassem Soleimani.
Ali Khamenei himself handpicks several ministers, including the foreign minister.
“The Iranian theocracy is based on the concept of Velayat-e faqih, or absolute rule of the supreme leader. Every official is vetted for allegiance to him, and Ali Khamenei himself handpicks several ministers, including the foreign minister. So it is unsurprising that Zarif has been complicit for years in the Iranian regime’s malign activities. He has not only been the face and voice of the ayatollahs’ rule, but he has also personally worked to implement Khamenei’s reckless agenda and to justify and whitewash Tehran’s crimes at home and abroad. In reality, he is more of a propaganda minister than a foreign minister,” argued former Norwegian MP Lars Rise In an opinion piece for International Policy Digest back in August 2019.
Zarif, and Soleimani, are two sides of the same coin
Zarif had close ties with Qassem Soleimani, the eliminated head of the IRGC Quds Force. In an interview with Iran’s state-run Entekhab daily on September 1, 2019, Zarif specifically boasted about having “the greatest coordination with commander Soleimani” and how the two “decided to make sure we meet at least once a week.”
Zarif: Soleimani and I have great cooperation and meet every weekhttps://t.co/zm1tzt5X6S#Iran #IRGC #IRGCTerrorists pic.twitter.com/r9p8NWF3f1
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 3, 2019
In another interview with a state-run daily on September 1, 2019, Zarif said: “General Soleimani and I have been working together closely for over 20 years… During the U.S. attack on Iraq, as Iran’s representative in New York, I … had the greatest coordination with General Soleimani. Subsequently, when I became minister, the two of us decided to make sure we meet at least once a week to review the latest developments and undertake the necessary coordination.”
On October 10, 2010, the state-run website Jamaran News reported: “… Seyyed Mohammad Sadr, former deputy foreign minister on Arab, Middle East and African Affairs, in response to a question about relations between the foreign ministry and Qassem Soleimani said: Yes, it was extensive. We worked closely for seven years.”
“We met once a week to discuss the Middle East, namely about Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and the region. Soleimani visited my office every week, and we cooperated with each other. There was indeed a full coordination between the foreign ministry and the Quds force, and we used to set out plans for diplomatic activities. Obviously they (the plans) were pursued by us (the foreign ministry) and we determined the kind of assistance needed to be provided to Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Islamic groups… the main decisions were usually made in the Supreme National Security Council.”
“During the presidency of Mr. Khatami, the president instructed that all supplies and funds to the groups in the region must be supervised by me, therefore we were in control of everything. Undoubtedly, I and Soleimani cooperated very well… These two establishments (the foreign ministry and the Quds Force) are two wings of the same bird and had to fly alongside each other. Their cooperation was best demonstrated during the period of moderation (under Khatami’s presidency) when the resistance movement in the region was supported and at the same time the diplomatic activities were very high.”
“The kind of things raised these days (against Zarif) are related to domestic issues not the foreign policy. These two establishments coordinated with each other, then matters were referred to the National Security Council, and they were all coordinated under the supervision of the supreme leader. There is no dispute between these two bodies in any way. Those who suggest such things, do not know anything about the foreign policy or the resistance movements and their requirements, or they know nothing about either of them.”