عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Zarif Softens Critique of ‘Strategic’ Law After Khamenei Endorsement

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a news conference, March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a news conference, March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily/File Photo
TT
20
TT

Zarif Softens Critique of ‘Strategic’ Law After Khamenei Endorsement

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a news conference, March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a news conference, March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily/File Photo

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has announced that President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian’s government is ready to negotiate to restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
This comes alongside adhering to the “Strategic Action Plan to Lift US Sanctions and Protect Iranian Nation’s Interests,” which led Iran to suspend many of its nuclear commitments.
Zarif, appointed by Pezeshkian to lead a committee for selecting candidates for 19 key government positions, had previously criticized the “Strategic Action Plan.” However, he has now stated that the law is binding and must be followed, calling his earlier stance “personal.”
In a recent message to the UN, Zarif held the US and three European countries accountable for their failures under the deal, which he says harmed the Iranian people and triggered legislative reactions.
Zarif emphasized that it is in these countries’ interest to correct their behavior and allow Iran to benefit from the agreement. He added that Iran has taken compensatory actions within its rights under the deal.
Despite this, Zarif stressed that Pezeshkian’s administration is open to good faith negotiations based on the nuclear agreement and Iranian laws to ensure both sides uphold the deal.
Zarif’s change of position seems to align with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s support for the 2020 law.
Khamenei has urged parliamentarians to approve Pezeshkian’s government and avoid disputes, stressing the need for a unified stance on major issues.
Pezeshkian had previously expressed his intention to review and amend the law with parliament.
Zarif had criticized the law for blocking US President Joe Biden’s return to the nuclear deal and suggested that Iranian oil sales have been facilitated by the Biden administration’s flexibility.
He also predicted that if Republican candidate Donald Trump wins the November elections, he might return to a maximum pressure strategy.
Khamenei’s recent reaffirmation of support for the law, which mandates government compliance and could lead to legal action against non-compliant officials, is the first since the elections.
In a related development, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Reza Najafi said indirect negotiations with the US, mediated by Oman, are ongoing. However, he noted that the US is not ready for serious talks on lifting sanctions due to its internal issues.
Najafi highlighted that Pezeshkian’s positions suggest negotiations will continue, but the US needs to be ready for serious discussions, and the future US administration’s policy will be crucial. He reaffirmed Iran’s readiness to continue talks.

Most Viewed

 
World

US Judge Orders Trump Administration to Reinstate Thousands of Fired Workers

US President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 13 March 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 13 March 2025. (EPA)
TT
20
TT

US Judge Orders Trump Administration to Reinstate Thousands of Fired Workers

US President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 13 March 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 13 March 2025. (EPA)

A California federal judge on Thursday ordered six US agencies to reinstate thousands of recently-hired employees who lost their jobs as part of President Donald Trump's purge of the federal workforce.

The ruling by US District Judge William Alsup during a hearing in San Francisco is the most significant blow yet to the effort by Trump and top adviser Elon Musk to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy. Government agencies are facing a Thursday deadline to submit plans for a second wave of mass layoffs and to slash their budgets.

Alsup's ruling applies to probationary employees at the US Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Interior and the Treasury Department.

The judge said the US Office of Personnel Management, the human resources department for federal agencies, had improperly ordered those agencies to fire workers en masse even though it lacked the power to do so.

“It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” said Alsup, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Probationary workers typically have less than one year of service in their current roles, though some are longtime federal employees. They have fewer job protections than other government workers but in general can only be fired for performance issues.

Alsup ordered the agencies to reinstate workers who were fired over the last few weeks, pending the outcome of a lawsuit by unions, nonprofit groups, and the state of Washington.

He did not order the 16 other agencies named in the lawsuit to reinstate workers, but said he would promptly issue a written decision that could expand on Thursday's ruling.

A Veterans Affairs spokesperson declined to comment. A Department of Interior spokeswoman said the agency does not comment on litigation over personnel matters.

The White House and the other agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The plaintiffs include the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers. The union's president, Everett Kelley, in a statement said the decision was an important victory against "an administration hellbent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public."

25,000 WORKERS

Alsup last month had temporarily blocked OPM from ordering agencies to fire probationary employees, but declined at the time to require that fired workers get their jobs back. The plaintiffs subsequently amended their lawsuit to include the agencies that fired probationary workers.

About 25,000 workers across the US government had been fired as of March 5, according to a Reuters tally, and another 75,000 have taken a buyout. The Trump administration has not released statistics on the firings, and it was not immediately clear how many employees could be affected by Thursday's decision.

In the lawsuit before Alsup, the plaintiffs claim the mass firings were unlawful because they were ordered by OPM rather than left to the discretion of individual agencies.

OPM has maintained that it merely asked agencies in a January 20 memo to identify probationary workers and decide which ones were not "mission critical" and could be fired, and did not order them to terminate anyone.

The agency on March 4 revised that memo, adding that it was not directing agencies to take any specific actions with respect to probationary employees.

OPM has pointed to the updated memo and to press releases by agencies as proof that it had no control over agencies' decisions.

Alsup on Thursday told the US Department of Justice lawyer representing OPM, Kelsey Helland, that he did not believe that was true, and scolded the government for not presenting OPM's acting director, Charles Ezell, to testify at the hearing.

“I’ve been practicing or serving in this court for over 50 years and I know how we get at the truth, and you’re not helping me get at the truth. You’re giving me press releases, sham documents,” Alsup said.

Helland said it was common for presidential administrations to prevent high-ranking agency officials from testifying in court, and that the information provided by OPM in court filings was enough to prove that it never ordered agencies to terminate workers.

Along with the lawsuit in California, several other challenges to the mass firings have been filed, including cases by 20 Democrat-led states and a proposed class action by a group of fired workers.

The Merit Systems Protection Board, which reviews federal employees' appeals when they are fired, earlier this month ordered the Agriculture Department to reinstate nearly 6,000 probationary workers at least temporarily.