At a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on Palestine in Baku, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke about the United States, Israel and the so-called deal of the century.

Zarif urged the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement to “have a united front and not allow the Zionist regime to push the issue of Palestine to the margins.” While no US administration has wanted to “help the Palestinians in creating their own country, [the Donald Trump] administration has removed the veil from its face” and pursued the policies of permitting Israeli expansion, he said.

Zarif referred to Jared Kushner’s “deal of the century” — a Middle East peace plan that includes economic packages and investments in return for Israeli control — as “a delusion.” He said that Palestinian leaders have already rejected the plan and that the United States and Israel “must understand that peace and economic prosperity cannot happen until the issue of the occupation is addressed.”

Zarif added, “We have to distance ourselves from the delusion that Israel and the United States can be reliable partners.” This last comment made headlines across Iranian media. The comment coming from Zarif for an international audience is particularly interesting. Zarif’s bilateral negotiations with former US Secretary of State John Kerry was what facilitated the 2015 signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Without direct negotiations between the United States and Iran, there likely would have never been a JCPOA, the signature foreign policy achievement of the Hassan Rouhani administration.