Iranian official answers questions from Israeli journalists

Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Israeli radio on Wednesday that: “Any agreement reached will open new horizons in [our] relations with all states.”

The senior official, who headed Iran’s delegation to the P5 +1 talks in Geneva, answered in the affirmative when the Israeli reporter asked if Israel could live in peace with Iran’s proposed concessions in its talks with the West.

Iranian officials have traditionally avoided any contact with Israeli media because relations between the two countries were severed after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ever since then, the two countries have been considered enemies.

According to the Time of Israel newspaper, the Israeli reporter who conducted the interview was wearing a badge saying “Israel Radio” when he approached Araqchi, and he pointed out that the way he asked the question also indicated that he was an Israeli journalist.

Israel has repeatedly warned that Iran seeks to lift the sanctions while continuing to secretly produce nuclear weapons, even though there is no direct evidence that Iran has made the decision to pursue nuclear weapons, or started making them.

Israel’s Channel 2 said that another Iranian official also answered a question by of one of its journalists, without providing a name. The Iranians’ willingness to answer questions by Israeli journalists is significant and unusual.