Iran's FM Zarif issues first response since audiotape leak, says he 'deeply regrets'

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on April 28 said that he “deeply regretted” the leak of audiotape that uncovered the behind-the-scenes power struggle of the Islamic Republic’s government. While adding that he favours a “smart adjustment” between military and diplomacy, he also noted that the leak had triggered “domestic infighting” in the first public reaction since the audio of him denouncing the influence of the military on politics. Iran’s top diplomat said on his Instagram account on Friday after the three-our audio of him was leaked and President Hassan Rouhani launched an investigation to identify who leaked the ‘stolen’ audiotape.

Zarif wrote, “I deeply regretted how a secret theoretical debate about the need to increase diplomacy and the field — in order for future administrators to benefit from the valuable experience of the past eight years — turned into a domestic infighting and honestly and compassionately pathologizing some processes as personal criticism.”

“Reducing the theoretical debate on the relationship between the two wings of the Islamic Republic of Iran, namely diplomacy and the field, as an excuse for a dichotomy between arrogant military and zealous diplomats who both strive for the dignity of Iran, not only short-sighted but in complete opposition,” he added.

Zarif’s audiotape leaked

In a massive revelation through a leaked audiotape regarding the veiled power struggles of Iranian leaders, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the nation’s Revolutionary Guard call the ultimate shots and overruled several governmental decisions and dismissing their advice. As per New York Times report, in one extraordinary moment on the tape that surfaced on April 25, Zarif disconnected from the reverential official line on General Qassem Soleimani the commander of the Guard’s elite Quds Force, the foreign-facing arm of Iran’s security apparatus, who was killed by the United States in January 2020. 

Further, as per the report, the Iranian Foreign Minister said that Soleimani undermined Zarif on several instances while working with Russia to sabotage the nuclear pact between Iran and the world powers while adopting policies towards the Syrian war that contradicted Iranian interests. In the three-hour taped conversation that was reportedly part of an oral history project documenting the work of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani administration, Zarif made the remarks.

He said, “In the Islamic Republic, the military field rules...I have sacrificed diplomacy for the military field rather than the field servicing diplomacy.” Notably, the audio was leaked at a critical moment for Iran as the nation is in talks with the US and other Western countries for a possible return to the nuclear pact as talks through intermediates have been taking place in Geneva. NYT also said that it remains unclear what impact will the revelations of the call make on Zarif’s position in Iran.

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