Leaked Tape Shows Tension Between Iran’s FM, Revolutionary Guards

Iran

April 26th, 7:21am

London - Asharq Al-Awsat

Qassem Soleimani (left), who led Iran's Quds Force, had a direct role in the regime's broader diplomatic policies, Zarif is reported to claim in an unpublished interview. (AFP/Files)

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has criticized the military’s control over government institutions, mainly the role of slain Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani in Iran's diplomatic affairs, according to a leaked audio released on Sunday. In a three-hour interview conducted last March by Iranian reformist journalist Saeed Laylaz and intended to be released after the Rouhani administration leaves office in early August, Zarif said that under Soleimani's influence, he had to further a diplomacy that served Iran's interests in its military operations in the region. "On the other hand, I have never been able to ask Soleimani to do something that would serve my diplomatic moves," he said. Soleimani was killed by a US airstrike in Baghdad in January 2020. Zarif said Soleimani intervened in his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, adding that the former Quds Force commander never accepted his demand to refrain from using the Iranian national airline for transportation to Syria during military confrontations. The international community has sanctioned several Iranian companies and airlines for transporting weapons to Bashar Assad’s forces and those fighting under Iranian command. The foreign minister stressed that Iran always attached great importance to its war operations, saying his role in determining Iran's foreign policy was "nil." He also stressed that Soleimani's visit to Moscow immediately after the 2015 nuclear deal was an attempt to tarnish the role played by the foreign ministry in striking the agreement. He also said that the foreign ministry was kept in the dark about Iran's military operations in Syria. Zarif spoke about a phone call between him and US Secretary of State John Kerry in May 2017 when the official warned him about the increase in the number of flights to Damascus six times the usual.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2939991/leaked-tape-shows-tension-between-iran%E2%80%99s-fm-revolutionary-guards