An Iranian journalist who served as a media advisor to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani defected to the West over the weekend, protesting that he could “only write what he was told.”

Reuters reported that Amir Hossein Motaghi was on the team that helped Rouhani win the 2013 presidential elections.

“My conscience would not allow me to carry out my profession in this manner any more,” the Telegraph reported him as telling IraneFarda, an opposition news website based in London.

Motaghi was in Lausanne covering the nuclear talks for the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA) but that organization said it had now ended its relationship with him.

The Times of Israel reported that Motaghi was also critical of the role the United States was playing in the nuclear talks with Iran.

According to the British Telegraph newspaper, Motaghi also harshly criticized the American role in the talks, saying the White House was attempting to persuade the other members of the P5+1 group of nations (US, England, France, Russia, China and Germany) to accept Iran’s point of view.

“The US negotiating team is mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf with other members of the 5+1 countries and convince them of a deal,” Montaghi said.

[Photo: PBS NewsHour / YouTube ]