Ali Rabiei added the TV network has always worked against the Iranian nation.

“This audio file was released by the spiteful [Iran International] television run by petro-dollars, and since the day it was established, this television [network] wanted Iranian people to suffer and be under sanctions,” he said on Tuesday.

“This shows the move to steal and selectively broadcast the interview was a plot,” added the spokesman.

“[Iranian] President [Hassan Rouhani] instructed the Intelligence Ministry to identify those behind this conspiracy,” said Rabiei.

“We believe the stealing of these documents is a plot against the government, Establishment, national unity, our efficient institutions on the ground, and our national interests,” he added.

“Of course, we will be waiting for Dr. Zarif to return to Iran and give the necessary explanation on the misinterpretations,” he noted.

Rabiei explained that the interview was part of a project aimed at reporting and narrating the services, actions, challenges and achievements of the two administrations led by President Hassan Rouhani, adding the project included similar discussions with Iranian ministers and vice presidents under the auspices of the Presidency’s Center for Strategic Studies.

“The complete versions of the audio-visual files and their written transcripts were to be archived in the cabinet office and classified accordingly.  An excerpt of each interview was to be archived in a research center, and then published and made available to the public with the consent of the interviewees,” he said.

“Regarding the interview with Zarif, the file was stolen and published by people whose identities are being investigated…,” he added.

Rabiei reiterated that the TV network had “selectively aired parts of a very lengthy interview with wicked intentions.”

He said the interview is, in fact, a program about the performance and achievements of, and challenges faced by the Rouhani administration recorded under the supervision of the President’s Office.

An interview was recorded on February 24 as part of an ‘oral history’ research by Iranian economist Saeed Laylaz, first leaked by the London-based television channel ‘Iran International funded by Saudi Arabia.

The Iranian government spokesman also said about the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States that the idea of exchanging prisoners with the United States has always been raised and the number of Iranian prisoners in the United States is more than the number of American prisoners in Iran.

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The Natanz nuclear site was hit by an attack on April 11 which Iran called “nuclear terrorism” and a “war crime”. The attack targeted the electricity distribution network of the Natanz enrichment facility and caused a blackout.

Following the attack, Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its plan to start enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, under which 1,000 advanced centrifuges will be installed at the site.
The most obvious explanation of the attack is an expression of Israel’s opposition to the Vienna talks aimed at returning the US to participation in the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as JCPOA or the P5+1 Agreement, especially as there were disclosures that talks were ‘constructive,’ with optimism about setting the stage for direct negotiations between Iran and the US to resume soon, Falk said.
The talks began early this month with the participation of the remaining parties to the JCPOA, namely Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, while excluding the US, which unilaterally left the deal three years ago.

Falk described as “reasonable” the call by Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), on the international community as well as the IAEA to deal with the “nuclear terrorism” that targets Iran’s facilities.

The American professor said the call points to the failures of the IAEA to act as a responsible international institution.

“Iran has long been victimized by Israeli nuclear terrorism without any appropriate international response against such serious wrongdoing,” he said.
“A condemnation of the attack as an instance of ‘nuclear terrorism’ would constitute an important step by the IAEA to establish its credibility,” Falk said.

“For  the IAEA and Washington to refrain from criticism of the Natanz attack plays into Israel’s hands, particularly if allowed to disrupt the gaining momentum toward ending sanctions and restoring US membership in JCPOA.”
Commenting on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s remarks in which he warned the US that neither sanctions nor acts of sabotage can serve as leverage in negotiations, Falk stressed that Tehran cannot be intimidated.

Iran has been subjected to “unlawful sanctions and coercive threats for decades, and yet has withstood these unlawful encroachments on its sovereign rights”, he said.

“I see no indications that Iran will be intimidated on this occasion to any greater extent than in responding to past provocations,” he said, stressing that “Iran has shown its subtle understanding of how to respond without itself being dangerously provocative”.

Falk said the administration of Joe Biden is focused on taking steps to bring the COVID-19 pandemic to a rapid end and restore the American economy as quickly as possible.

The Biden administration, Falk said, seems “eager to avoid being accused by pro-Israeli sentiments in Congress and within the Israeli Lobby of neglecting Israeli concerns about Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program”.
“In effect, there exist cross-cutting pressures that make it difficult to predict how the United States leadership will respond. So far, its failure to distance itself from the Israeli provocation is a disturbing indication that it will again allow its policy to be pushed in dysfunctional directions so as not to displease Israel’s militant supporters.”

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