The Agence France Press (AFP)’s report on Thursday morning, in which Iran’s foreign minister made an offer to the United States government, was actually based on a significant translation error. The AFP used information from a TV interview to report that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif informed the United States government that Iran would provide support in the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq if the U.S. lifted its sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program.
Translation error
It turns out that the foreign minister of Iran was misquoted. After transcripts of the interview and several videos emerged, the U.S. State Department clarified that the translator mistook the word “Arak” for “Iraq.” Arak is one of Iran’s industrial cities, and the site of the country’s various heavy industry plants. Foreign Minister Zarif was actually referring to the Iranian city and the nation’s heavy water reactor that is located there. Neighboring Iraq was not included in his comments.
Clarification from other sources
Arash Karami, editor of Iran Pulse—the Iranian publication of Al-Monitor, a Washington-based media website that focuses on the Middle East—read the transcript of the interview and confirmed the translation error.
The foreign minister asked the West to lift the sanctions on his country, imposed by the European Union, the U.S. and the UN Security Council, if the Iranian government implements changes in Arak. The sanctions were imposed in response to Iran’s nuclear program—Arak was the sticking point because the West thinks that the city’s water reactor holds the potential to produce large quantities of plutonium that can be used for nuclear weapons.
Screenshots of the incorrectly translated parts of the interview were posted online, including a post by Hadi Nili, a Persian BBC journalist. The transcript was taken from from the Iranian Mehr Agency website.
Word from the AFP
The AFP explained that it used links from Mehr News and the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). At the time of writing, an accurate transcription appears on the IRNA website, while Mehr News has not yet published a correction.
Immediately following the AFP report, Marziyeh Afkham, the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign minister, denied that such an offer had been made. White House reporter Josh Lederman, of the Associated Press, sent out a tweet that the State Department was also aware of the translation error.
Image credit: Mohammad_Javad_Zarif taken by Gugganich under Public Domain.
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