Diplomat dismisses accusations flying around member of nuclear negotiation team

EghtesadOnline: Foreign Ministry's Director General for Political Affairs and International Security Hamid Baeedinejad said the insistence of certain people on accusing Abdolrassul Dorri Esfahani of espionage charges is in fact an insult to the Iranian intelligence bodies.

News ID: ۷۳۶۴۰۶

31 August 2016

Based on a note on his Instagram page, he said Esfahani had a record of over two decades of presence in international legal disputes and the fact that some insist on calling him a spy is in fact an insult to the Iranian intelligence bodies.

According to IRNA, he went on to note every single member of the nuclear negotiations team had access to a certain amount of information corresponding with his responsibilities.

The diplomat who headed the Iranian expert team during negotiations also pointed out that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) came at the end of very complicated and multi-faceted negotiations.

He said some individuals and websites have embarked on publishing accusations against Mr Dorri claiming that he, as a person with dual citizenship who also holds a British ID, has been involved in espionage activities against the country for so many years even since the time when he was in charge of Iran’s legal case against the US in defense ministry.

Baeedinejad said such people claim that in the capacity of a diplomat and a member of Iranian nuclear negotiations team, he had been selling intelligence to the US and the UK for 7,500 pounds monthly.

He said that authorities in charge of the issue have already made it clear that Mr Dorri has been summoned for some explanations but is free now without any charges being leveled against him.

Baeedinejad also said the remarks Dorri made during his recent interview in the Central Bank about his complete loyalty to Iran’s interests and his strong rejection of any espionage charges were not negated by any official bodies.

He further noted that neither the foreign ministry nor the officials of the Iranian nuclear team had any role in appointing members of the team so they could not be taken accountable for checking the identities of tens of experts who joined the team as representatives of various related bodies.

He said Mr. Dorri joined the nuclear negotiations team on the recommendations of a banking and financial institute as an expert with decades-long experiences in legal and administrative affairs in a number of areas to provide the team with expert advice.

Mr. Dorri used to participate in the Hague legal negotiations on Iran-US legal case as a jury member and then represented Iranian defense ministry in the case of Iran’s military purchases from the US for another decade. As a person with over two-decades of experience in important international legal case, he added, Mr. Dorri is well-recognized as a man of knowledge.

Also, based on authentic information, Dorri is not a British citizen, the diplomat noted.