Zarif's Diplomacy in Overdrive

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, donning the garb of an Iranian hardliner, visited with the Basij of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization today along with Ali Akbar Salehi, the organization's head. With a keffiyeh around his neck, he paid his respects to the veterans of the Iran-Iraq War, kissed the forehead of one Basiji's father, and told his audience to disregard what American officials were saying about the Geneva agreement, that Iran's rights had been secured. Upon his return from Geneva, Zarif took a decidedly conservative turn, meeting with families of assassinated nuclear scientists, “nuclear martyrs,” and said the most important news of the day was Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's approval of the interim agreement. Since he took the post of foreign minister, Zarif has honed the art of playing to various constituencies in the course of brokering Iran's rapproachment with the West, one day playing the role of suave diplomat, tweeting about a deal, and the next, wearing a keffiyeh and maintaining his domestic credibility.