Mr. Zibakalam reminded Mr. Zarif, who has been compared with Iranian greats such as Prime Minister Mosadegh or Amir Kabir (Prime Minister of Persia under Naser al-Din Shah), that as far as he knows, no one has claimed that Mr. Kerry or Ms. Sherman are geniuses in the realm of international politics despite their role in reaching the nuclear agreement; Yet, Mr. Zarif is being lauded as a genius and the architect of the nuclear agreement. Mr. Zibakalam then states that this is a mistake because Mr. Zarif’s success is owed to numerous factors, many of which were beyond his control.
Mr. Zibakalam attributes Mr. Zarif’s success to the election of Mr. Rouhani, the desire of the Iranian government to solve the nuclear issue and drag Iran out of hole that it had dug itself into by pursuing a nuclear program, Mr. Zarif’s and his team’s proficiency in the English language, and the manifestation of the impact of the sanctions on the Iranian economy. Mr. Zibakalam does credit Mr. Zarif and the Rouhani administration with their choice to not exploit the nuclear program and use it to gain political or populist support (unlike the hardliners). On the foreign front, influencing factors included the self-proclaimed Islamic State’s rise to power and the regional chaos that ensued. In the United States, many individuals and groups involved in governance had concluded that if Iran wanted to produce nuclear weapons, economic sanctions would not stop it for doing so. Hence, their only solutions were diplomacy and reconciliation or a military strike, and the White House chose the latter. The fact that Mr. Rouhani was elected president also moved the White House to pursue diplomacy.
According to Mr. Zibakalam, many were upset by the nuclear deal. Those in the U.S. and the region who wanted Iran to remain weak and isolated are dissatisfied; as are Netanyahu, the Saudis, and Iranian Royalists and radical republicans. Internally, those hardliners in the regime who are anti-American are worried that the agreement will lead to reconciliation and will make their anti-Americanism irrelevant.
Therefore, despite their success so far, Mr. Zarif and his admirers should not become arrogant. They must remain vigilant in their pursuit of diplomacy and must ensure that they maintain peace and achieve something tangible.