Saeed Jalili, Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator, former Deputy Foreign Minister

Saeed Jalili, Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator

Iranian official Saeed Jalili

Born in 1965, Saeed Jalili, PhD is Iran's newly appointed Chief Nuclear Negotiator, replacing Ali Larijani in October 2007. The former Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs, he was interviewed by the Boston Globe on December 18, 2006. Jalili, who says "in America, nobody dares to drink water without the permission of Israel", brought up the spectre of the 1953 coup. A separate Boston Globe article about Iranian citizens published the same day (12/25/06) referenced the exchange:

And any discussion of improving ties quickly gets caught up in events of the past. Iran and the United States can't get beyond the litany of slights that each nation feels it suffered at the hands of the other.

In an interview in Tehran last week, Jalili, the deputy foreign minister, began a discussion of the current US-Iran stalemate by recalling 55 years of history, starting with the British-inspired intrigue in 1951 that led two years later to the US-backed coup against elected Iranian leader Mohammad Mossadegh as Iran was about to nationalize its oil industry.

From the Boston Globe interview with Saeed Jalili:

So what is necessary to break through this [stalemate between Iran and U.S.]?

Jalili: First, on the broader principles of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, they should respect our rights. And we are ready to have the confidence building to show that we are not diverting from the peaceful production any material. The IAEA said they didn't find one document showing any diversion from our peaceful program. Some of the great powers know this and they have made clear that they didn't want confidence building - they just want to deprive Iran of its inalienable rights.

And after 50 years, we do hope the US apologizes for the [1953] coup provoked by the US against Iran. They should not miss this time, they should not miss the opportunity.

This March 2006 excerpt quoting Saeed Jalili on the nuclear issue was reported by the IRNA and on Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site:

He brought to mind the move of then prime minister Mohammad Mossadeq of nationalizing Iran's black gold (oil) in 1951, and said that at the time the US and Britain also opposed the initiative and the CIA overthrew the popular government of Mossadeq and acquired control of the country's natural resource.

The US secretary of state in Bill Clinton's administration, Madeleine Albright, apologized for the role the US played in the overthrow of Mossadeq, he said in clear reference to US interference in Iran's internal affairs dating many years back.

"There is no doubt (Iran) plays a significant role in international foreign policy as far as oil is concerned. But its impact on Afghanistan and Iraq and the whole region will be overshadowed by possible pressures and sanctions against Iran," Jalili said in reply to a question on whether Iran would use oil as a weapon if sanctions were imposed.