The Last Word: Javad Zarif

Last Tuesday fiery Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proudly boasted that his country had joined “the club of nuclear countries” after successfully enriching uranium. The move defied U.N. calls for Tehran to suspend its nuclear program, and came on the eve of an inspection visit by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Even with the threat of U.N. sanctions looming and rumors of a U.S. military strike swirling, Ahmadinejad vowed that Iran would continue its course. NEWSWEEK’s Malcolm Beith spoke to Javad Zarif, Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, about the conflict last week.

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