Iran’s foreign minister said his meeting with a Democratic senator alarmed the Trump administration because it allowed him to talk directly to “the American nation.”
Mohammad Javad Zarif and Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy met last week at a security conference in Munich. President Trump questioned whether Murphy violated U.S. law by meeting with the foreign minister, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped anyone who communicates with Zarif reflected the Trump administration’s position on Iran.
“Trump and Pompeo are afraid of a senator hearing facts from the Iranian foreign minister,” Zarif told reporters Wednesday.
The official added that he has met with other U.S. lawmakers in the past two decades, but did not disclose with whom.
Murphy said he met with Zarif because it’s “dangerous not to talk to one’s enemies.”
“I have no delusions about Iran — they are our adversary,” he added.
Tensions between Washington, D.C., and Iran escalated in January when the United States killed Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Iraq. Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops.
