Zarif dismisses ‘green card’ claims during nuclear talks

July 7, 2018 - 20:39

TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has dismissed as baseless claims that the Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians during the nuclear negotiations that led to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA.

“Such issues have never been raised in (the nuclear) talks or on their sidelines or in any other way, not even a legitimate request like the abolition of restrictions on Iranian diplomats working at the United Nations,” Zarif said on Saturday, Tasnim reported.

The response came days after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted, “Just out that the Obama Administration granted citizenship, during the terrible Iran Deal negotiation, to 2,500 Iranians – including to government officials. How big (and bad) is that?”

The claim was first brought up by Mojtaba Zonnour, a member of Iran’s parliament, who has been an outspoken critic of the JCPOA and the Rouhani administration.

In an interview with the Etemad newspaer in June, Zonnour said, “The Obama administration granted citizenship to 2500 Iranians, including family members of government officials, while negotiating the nuclear deal.”

Trump, himself, has severely criticized the nuclear deal and the Obama administration for striking “the worst deal ever”. On May 8, he pulled the United States out of the JCPOA, which was struck in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations between Iran and six world powers, including Russia, China, the U.S., Britain, France Germany and the European Union.

MH/PA

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