“Today, we live in a world of narratives and a war of narratives, and no one understands this reality better than the Zionists,” Zarif said on Monday, during the unveiling of a policy document titled “Strategy of Consensus for National Security Based on a Historical Approach to Iran’s National Security Issues.”

“If you look at international relations, the first place that started shaping and changing narratives was Israel,” he added.

He traced the origins of the dispute surrounding Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities back to the 1990s, when Israel began accusing Iran of working on a clandestine nuclear weapons program.

“When they say this, many are pleased, while they are in fact manufacturing reality,” he said. “Do they want to show Iran’s power or are they manufacturing an ‘Iran threat?’” The diplomat explained that what the Israelis have been doing is peddling the narrative that “Iran poses a threat to the entire world.”

Zarif said he did not believe Israel was genuinely fearful of a nuclear Iran, suggesting that if that had been the case, Israel would have welcomed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and originally six world powers.

Israel was a fierce opponent of the international diplomacy that resulted in the JCPOA. Subsequently, the regime left no stone unturned in its efforts to sabotage the deal, which lifted certain sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. In 2018, Israel was the first to applaud the United States for withdrawing from the accord. Since then, it has been actively working to derail international talks aimed at reviving the deal.

“The Israelis are masters of narrative-making, using Hollywood and professions like journalism and television to their advantage,” Zarif said.

As part of its narrative, he said, Israel argues that Iran has become weakened militarily, leaving it with no choice but to build a nuclear weapon. The conclusion, as far as the Israelis are concerned, is that any length of time before a “weakened” Iran reaches the nuclear threshold is ripe for military action, Zarif added.

“Today, we must dismantle this narrative. Some may say that the way to dismantle this narrative is through the True Promise 3,” Zarif said, referencing a planned strike against Israel, follow-ups to strikes in April and October last year. Some in Iran are advocating for a third such operation to deter further Israeli aggression against the country.

“In my opinion,” he said, “this narrative plays into the Zionist narrative.” A second option would be for Iran to retreat, “which is neither necessary nor correct,” he added.

The Iranian government seeks to present a new narrative, which is the result of extensive research at the Center for Strategic Studies, and that will be presented to the world, the diplomat said.