Hamas attack on Israel ‘destroyed’ chance for US nuclear deal negotiations, claims Iran – Firstpost

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday said that Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 “destroyed” the opportunity for negotiations with the US to revive a landmark nuclear agreement.

The unprecedented assault by the Palestinian militant group led to a devastating conflict in Gaza, involving Tehran-aligned militants throughout the Middle East and resulting in rare direct confrontations between Iran and Israel.

While Iran, which provides financial and military support to Hamas, praised the attack, it denied any direct involvement.

“We did not know about October 7… We were supposed to have a meeting with the Americans on JCPOA renewal on October 9, which was undermined and destroyed by this operation,” AFP quoted Zarif as saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos, using an acronym for the official name of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated in 2015.

Tehran’s allies in the region, including Hamas, have “always worked for their own cause, even at our expense”, Zarif said.

“We never tried to cash (in on) our investment in the region,” he added.

Zarif, currently Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs, previously served as the foreign minister who negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

In 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term as U.S. President, Washington withdrew from the agreement, which had placed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Tehran maintained its commitments under the deal until the U.S. exit, after which it began to roll back its obligations.

Iran has consistently expressed its willingness to revive the agreement.

Earlier this month, before Trump officially returned to the White House, Iranian officials engaged in nuclear talks with their counterparts from Britain, France, and Germany, with both sides describing the discussions as “frank and constructive.”

With inputs from agencies