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Suleimani pulled the strings: The leak of Zarif's call reveals the power struggles in Iran

A closed-door interview of the foreign minister reached a Saudi-owned website, in which he confirmed that his authority was limited, and that security interests dictated diplomacy.

He said Suleimani and Russia had tried to sabotage the nuclear deal and attacked his policy in Syria.

Iran is calling for his resignation.

"Like Stealing the Nuclear Archive"

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• Iran

• Muhammad Javad Zarif

• Qassem Suleimani

Guy Elster

Monday, April 26, 2021, 9:30 p.m.

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In the video: Zarif says that Israel made a bad bet on harming Natanz (Photo: Reuters)

A leaked recording of Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif reveals his strained relations with the Revolutionary Guards, and in particular with former Quds Force commander General Qassem Suleimani. Zarif, who complained that the Revolutionary Guards were the ones pulling the strings, said Suleimani had repeatedly undermined him, collaborated with Russia to sabotage the nuclear deal and pursued a policy towards Syria that harmed Iran's interests.

"In the Islamic Republic, the military aspect determines," Zarif said in a three-hour recorded interview, part of a project to document the work of the current administration in Tehran. "I sacrificed diplomacy for the military field instead of serving diplomacy."

The leak of the tape by the website Iran-International, which operates from London and is owned by Saudi Arabia, comes at a sensitive time, during the conduct of the nuclear talks between Tehran and the powers in Vienna.

Zarif made it clear in a conversation he had last month with economist Said Lilaz, who is close to him, that it should not be published.

The Foreign Ministry said that the words of Zarif taken out of context and did not reflect the love and respect sizzling Foreign Minister Suleiman, who was killed attacking drone US in January last year.

Foreign Ministry spokesman of Iran expressed surprise about the timing of the leak of a tape - two months before the presidential election in June - and called it " Immoral politics. "

Lacks actual effect.

Zarif in a meeting with Lavrov in Tehran, this month (Photo: AP)

In the recording, Zarif confirmed many assumptions about the structure of power in Iran - that his authority as Iran's senior diplomat is limited, and that decisions are often dictated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards. The foreign minister did indeed praise Suleimani for their successful cooperation that preceded the United States wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He even admitted that Iran suffered a huge blow in the assassination of Suleimani, which he said was more difficult than wiping out an entire city in a military offensive.

However, he said Suleimani had also harmed Iran, citing as an example a deal with Russia against the nuclear deal signed in 2015. Zarif claimed that Russia wanted the failure of the deal "and put all its weight" to create obstacles because it did not want Tehran to normalize its relations with the West. Therefore, Suleimani traveled to Russia to "destroy our achievement".

In addition, Zarif attacked Suleimani for allowing Russian planes to pass through Iran's airspace to bomb Syria and for transferring equipment and military personnel to Syria via Iranian airlines, and without the knowledge of the Iranian government.

Authorized Russia to fly over Iranian skies to attack Syria.

Suleimani (Photo: Reuters)

Zarif said that when it comes to negotiating a return to the nuclear deal, he is bound not only by Khamenei's instructions, but also by the demands of the Revolutionary Guards. He said Khamenei had recently "fired" at him after deviating from the official line, saying Iran was willing to work with the Biden administration in favor of a gradual return to the agreement from which the Trump administration withdrew.

"Our Foreign Ministry structure is mostly security," Zarif said. He said he was not always aware of the government's moves, much to his embarrassment.

He said that on the night Iran decided to take revenge on the United States for killing Suleimani, two Quds Force officials were sent to Iraq to update the prime minister on the missiles that Tehran was about to launch at US forces within 45 minutes. And so, the United States knew about the attack before it.

Hours later, the Revolutionary Guards accidentally shot down a Ukrainian plane, carrying 176 passengers, and attempted to whitewash the incident.

Zarif said that that night he attended a closed-door meeting of senior National Security Council officials along with two senior commanders, and said the world requires explanations.

He said the commanders attacked him, telling him to tweet on Twitter that the reports were not true.

"I said, 'If he is hit by a missile, tell us so we can see how we can solve it,'" Zarif recalled.

"Allah Adi, the way they reacted to me was as if they denied its existence."

In the conversation, Zarif also mentioned Israel's activities against Iran's establishment in Syria, and said that former US Secretary of State John Kerry had updated him that Israel had attacked Iranian targets in Syria at least 200 times, to his astonishment.

Former Vice President: Like the theft of the nuclear archive

It is difficult to know how, if at all, the leak of the call will affect the nuclear talks.

But in Iran, Zarif's critics called for him to resign and accused him of endangering national security by exposing the structure of political power to the world.

Even his supporters from the reformist camp have expressed concern that his remarks will hurt their candidates in the June election because they will alienate voters who believe the vote does not matter.

Muhammad Ali Abtahi, the former Iranian vice president, likened the leak of Zarif's closed call to the theft of the nuclear archive by the Mossad, one of several actions attributed to Israel in recent years that embarrassed the security establishment in Iran, along with two sabotage operations at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility.

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