Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has accused some media at home of distorting his remarks at a closed-door session where he briefed lawmakers on his visit to New York,Press TVreports.This all started after several Iranian lawmakers at the private meeting on Sunday quoted Zarif as saying that the telephone conversation between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and US President Barack Obama was a mistake. They also claimed that the minister said his talk with US Foreign Secretary John Kerry was prolonged.
The media reports said this was in reference to a recent speech by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who had expressed support for the diplomatic approach adopted by the Rouhani administration, but noted that some of the things that happened during the New York trip were not appropriate.
Iranian lawmaker Hossein Naqavi Hosseini was the first to make the comments about the private meeting on Sunday. But he later said not all that was published by the newspapers was said in the Sunday meeting.
Amongst the media reports, one headline from the dailyKayhanfrom the principlist camp stood out. It cited reformist Zarif as saying the Obama-Rouhani phone call and his meeting with John Kerry was inappropriate.
Irans Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham in a statement rejected the media reports reflecting Iranian parliamentarians remarks about their recent meeting with Zarif.
The foreign ministers comments "have not been published accurately and the titles used by some newspapers are not true and are rejected," she stressed.
On a Facebook page attributed to the foreign minister, Zarif said after seeing the headline by a newspaper he canceled most of his meetings and checked into a hospital suffering from back pain and muscle spasms in his leg. He said people that took his words out of context should know he would only make public statements from now on.
By Press TV
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