Iran FM says hard-liners' lies about outreach to U.S. landed him in hospital with stress spasms

TEHRAN, Iran Iran's foreign minister fired back on Wednesday against hard-line critics of Tehran's groundbreaking outreach to the United States, accusing opponents of using fabricated news leaks and other tactics in attempts to undermine the effort.

Mohammad Javad Zarif said the political battles had become so tense that it brought on back pain and spasms. He said on his Facebook page that he cancelled appointments and went to hospital for a check-up late Tuesday.

The source of his distress: An article in a hard-line newspaper that Zarif said misquoted him on the subject of the new Iranian administration's outreach to the U.S.

The image of the U.S.-educated Zarif forced to seek medical attention because of stress underscored the high-level tensions inside Iran's leadership after the historic exchanges last month at the United Nations, including President Obama's phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.

Iranian hard-liners, including commanders in the powerful Revolutionary Guard, have said Rouhani went too far in reaching out to Washington. The Guard chief commander, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, had praised Rouhani but called the phone call a "tactical mistake."

Foreign Minister Zarif claimed the hard-line newspaper Kayhan misquoted him Tuesday - publishing what was allegedly a confidential exchange - as criticizing some aspects of Rouhani's policies, calling it a "bitter day."

Zarif vowed not to hold any further confidential assessments and said all his remarks would be for public scrutiny.

But Rouhani's overtures to the U.S. still appear to have solid backing from Iran's top decision-maker, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As long as Khamenei keeps his support, the backlash from critics cannot seriously reverse the policies.

Rouhani's short-term goal is seeking to ease Western sanctions as part of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. Talks with the U.S. and other world powers are scheduled to resume in Geneva next week, but Iran has not yet officially offered details on what new proposals it will bring.

The Wall Street Journal has reported, however, that anonymous officials familiar with the negotiations say the Iranians are prepared to table an offer to limit the number of centrifuges operating at their nuclear facilities -- the machinery used to enrich uranium and make suitable for atomic weapons, to stop producing 20 percent enriched uranium, and to agree to greater international oversight at their . In return, they are expected to demand an easing of the crippling economic sanctions which have been placed on Iranian state institutions, banks, businesses and individuals.

In the first official suggestion of the concessions the Iranian government might be willing to make, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Iran has more enriched uranium than it needs and would use that as a bargaining chip at the nuclear talks in Geneva.

Larijani said the surplus uranium would be discussed with Western powers in the context of possibly halting its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent, which has been a key concession sought in the negotiations.

"Through the process of negotiations, yes, things can be said and they can discuss this matter," he said.

The 20-percent-enriched uranium is much closer to warhead-grade material than the level needed for energy-producing nuclear reactors, but Larijani said his country needs the higher enrichment solely for energy, research and isotopes for medical treatments, not for nuclear weapons.

CBS News State Department correspondent Margaret Brennan said Wednesday on "CBS This Morning" that if Iran agrees to such a deal, it would be a significant step forward in the long-stagnant diplomacy, and the Obama administration is enthusiastic at the prospect. Brennan noted, however, that it remains unclear whether Iran plans to make a concrete proposal at the summit kicking off Tuesday in Geneva, and the big question still looming over any potential diplomatic breakthrough is whether the U.S. Congress would even allow the White House to lift any of the unilateral sanctions against Iran.

The West and its allies fear Iran's ability to make nuclear fuel will eventually lead to weapons-grade material. Iran repeatedly denies it seeks nuclear weapons and says its atomic program is only for energy and medical applications.

Zarif claimed Kayhan misquoted him as saying Rouhani's 15-minute telephone conversation with President Barack Obama was "inappropriate." It also quoted Zarif as saying he believed it was wrong to hold a lengthy face-to-face meeting in New York with Secretary of State John Kerry.

"I got pain in the back and foot after seeing the newspaper's headline this morning. I could not even walk or sit ... I left the foreign ministry in the afternoon for hospital. (A medical examination) showed it was due to being nervous and the muscular spasms and would be treated by physical exercise," Zarif said in his Facebook page.

Mohammad Hossein Naqvi, spokesman of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, rejected the Kayhan report.

The editors and management at the paper were not immediately available for comment. But in a front-page story Wednesday, Kayhan defended its account and said Zarif's acknowledgement "brought down the line of compromise" with the U.S.

Khamenei has previously said he's not opposed to direct talks with the U.S. to resolve Iran's nuclear standoff with the West but is not optimistic. He called the U.S. last week "untrustworthy."