[caption id="attachment_149211" align="alignright" width="185"] Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif[/caption]
Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, rejected a recent letter sent by US Republican senators, saying that it seems like the authors of the letter do not understand international law.
The debate overa possible nuclear deal withIran took an unexpected turn when ina rare direct congressional intervention intodiplomatic negotiations, US Republicans warned Iran againstmaking any deal withPresident Obama inan open letter. The senators went asfar asdeclaring that any agreement withoutlegislative approval could be reversed bythe next president with the stroke ofa pen, media reported.
In response tothe letter, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, expressed amazement that some members ofthe US Congress find it appropriate towrite open letters toleaders ofanother country againsttheir own President and administration. Zarif said that fromreading the open letter, it seems that the authors do not understand international law atall.Zarif slammed the US senators bysaying, I should bring one important point tothe attention ofthe authors and that is, the world is not the United States, and the conduct ofinter-state relations is governed byinternational law, and not byUS domestic law. The authors may not fully understand that ininternational law, governments represent the entirety oftheir respective states, are responsible forthe conduct offoreign affairs, are required tofulfill the obligations they undertake withother states and may not invoke their internal law asjustification forfailure toperform their international obligations, reported Iranian media.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, who also holds Masters and PhD ininternational relations fromthe University ofDenver, plus two degrees fromSan Francisco State University, is also Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.
Hence, regarding an unusual approach ofthe US Senators, Zarif added It is very interesting that while negotiations are still inprogress and while no agreement has been reached, some political pressure groups are so afraid even ofthe prospect ofan agreement that they resort tounconventional methods, unprecedented indiplomatic history.
Zarif ultimately dismissed the letter ashaving "no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy," reported Iranian media.