Iran’s foreign minister says the army has caused diplomatic damage

Iran’s diplomatic efforts had been damaged by military interventions such as the assassination of the Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani, said in a leaked recording the country’s foreign minister and nuclear negotiator, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“Many diplomatic prices we paid were due to the [military] the field was a priority, “Zarif said in a secret interview recorded on Feb. 24 as part of a research scheme on” oral history “that leaked Sunday.” We paid the [military] field but the [military] field did not pay us “.

He said Soleimani, who was leading Iran’s foreign military operations in the Middle East and was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January 2020, used to tell him what to do in the Middle East. their negotiations with foreign dignitaries.

“Almost every time I went to speak, it was the martyr Soleimani who said, ‘I want you to get this advantage, this point.’ He said, “When you go to talk [Russian foreign minister] Lavrov, gets 1, 2, 3, 4. ‘. . . If I had said you are not using, say, Iran Air [civilian] planes on the Tehran-Syria route [for military purposes], I would not have accepted it “.

For Iranian officials, protesting against the revolutionary guards, the main ideological arm of the Islamic Republic, or its military operations in the region, which top Iranian leaders consider vital to its survival, can come at a cost.

Many diplomatic prices we paid were due to the [military] field was a priority. We paid the [military] field but the [military] field did not pay us

The comments come as Iranian diplomats have been negotiating in Vienna this month to help them reactivate the nuclear deal that Zarif hit with world powers in 2015.

Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and imposed harsh sanctions that undermined pro-reform forces like Zarif. New President Joe Biden has expressed his willingness to return to the agreement and is holding indirect negotiations with Iran in the Austrian capital.

The prospect of reaching a new agreement with the US has further complicated Iran’s domestic policy ahead of the June 18 presidential election that will end Hassan Rouhani’s centrist government after two terms. Reformers consider Zarif their best option to win the election and push for the reactivation of the nuclear deal.

Should Zarif accept the reformists ’call to run, it could change the game, analysts say. If it does not show up, the forts, based primarily in the Revolutionary Guard, the judiciary and parliament, believe they could have an easy trip to the polls.

Hardline forces are determined to discourage Zarif, reformists say, or they would try to disqualify him during the strict candidate verification procedures conducted by the Guardian Council, the hardline’s constitutional watchdog.

A member of the regime close to the forts said the leaked file will not be used to remove Zarif now from office. He did not comment further. But a reformist politician said the document could be used to disqualify the foreign minister.

In the interview, Zarif said he was unwilling to run for president. “The world is moving forward. . . These months are vital. I want to focus on foreign relations, not domestic politics. “

The file was first reported by London-based Persian-language television channel Iran International, which the republic considers a hostile body funded by Saudi Arabia. Some other Iranian media hosted the three-hour interview, which was also heard by the Financial Times.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the controversial parts had been removed “out of context” and were part of a seven-hour interview that could be published if the “concerned” authorities allowed it, without giving further details.

Although the Islamic Republic considers Russia an ally, Zarif alleged on the tapes that Moscow had tried to sabotage the nuclear deal. He also said that the revolutionary guards had hidden the fact that they had done so shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane last year. The tragedy, in which all 176 passengers and crew were killed, came hours after Iran responded to Soleimani’s assassination by launching missiles at the U.S. military base in Iraq. Zarif said he had no idea of ​​the attack.

The worldview of the leaders of the Islamic Republic, he said, was based on “a polarized cold war” and that “a minority capable of creating huge waves” had its “interests in highlighting security so that their roles could excel.” “Slow”.

“It simply came to our notice then [Iranian diplomats that] we come to be sacrificed, not to be champions, ”said Zarif.