Iran has offered Trump an olive branch |
There are few figures in Iranian politics as simultaneously familiar and enigmatic as Javad Zarif. To some in Washington he remains the smooth-talking apologist of the Islamic Republic; to hardliners in Tehran, he is still the man who gave too much away in the nuclear negotiations. When such a figure publishes the necessary elements for a new US-Iran deal that will end the Third Gulf War, it is worth paying attention.
Zarif’s recent article in Foreign Affairs, framed as a set of reciprocal steps between Tehran and Washington, is best understood as a sort of olive branch. In diplomatic parlance, he is ‘flying a kite’: testing how far the wind might carry a new idea without committing to its consequences.
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I knew Zarif when I served as Britain’s ambassador in Tehran during his tenure as foreign minister in President Rouhani’s government. He was already a veteran operator then – an American-educated former academic who had spent years in California before returning to serve the Islamic Republic. He was deeply loyal to the system he represented, yet convinced that engagement with the West was not merely desirable but necessary. He was polished, personable and unfailingly courteous, and also a formidable negotiator.
Zarif’s career since those years has followed the familiar rhythm of Iranian politics. Having been central to the negotiation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – better known as the JCPOA or Barjam in Iran – he fell from favour when the pendulum swung back towards the hardline camp under President Raisi. He spent years in the wilderness, returning to academic life teaching at Tehran University for a while. Zarif returned to prominence as a vice president following the election of President Pezeshkian, whose candidacy he actively championed in 2024. He has since resigned that post (resignation being one of his preferred political levers) but remained a central figure in Iranian politics.
Zarif........