dpa
Tehran
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has apologized for critical remarks he was heard saying about the country’s political system in a leaked audio recording.
"I would like to apologise to everyone,” Zarif, one of Iran’s most high-profile figures and who has been foreign minister since 2013, wrote on Instagram on Sunday.
Zarif said he regretted comments he made in which he complained about the interference of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the armed forces, in diplomatic affairs.
The remarks came in an interview conducted by one of President Hassan Rowhani’s advisers. The audio tape was allegedly stolen by "inner circles” and then published by Persian-language news outlets abroad.
The scandal has dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers for days as it seems to suggest a rift among the country’s leadership ahead of a presidential election scheduled for June.
Rowhani, who cannot run for re-election, said the leak was a tactic by hardliners to help them win over voters as well as to hinder ongoing nuclear negotiations.
According to Zarif, he had not given a "classic interview” but a "theoretical exchange of views” about strategy with a member of the presidential office.
Part of what made Zarif’s candid remarks so explosive was his criticism of Qassem Soleimani.
Soleimani, the commander of the Guards’ elite Quds Force, was killed in a US attack in Baghdad in January 2020.
Since then, he has enjoyed status in Iran as a martyr.
Tehran
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has apologized for critical remarks he was heard saying about the country’s political system in a leaked audio recording.
"I would like to apologise to everyone,” Zarif, one of Iran’s most high-profile figures and who has been foreign minister since 2013, wrote on Instagram on Sunday.
Zarif said he regretted comments he made in which he complained about the interference of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the armed forces, in diplomatic affairs.
The remarks came in an interview conducted by one of President Hassan Rowhani’s advisers. The audio tape was allegedly stolen by "inner circles” and then published by Persian-language news outlets abroad.
The scandal has dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers for days as it seems to suggest a rift among the country’s leadership ahead of a presidential election scheduled for June.
Rowhani, who cannot run for re-election, said the leak was a tactic by hardliners to help them win over voters as well as to hinder ongoing nuclear negotiations.
According to Zarif, he had not given a "classic interview” but a "theoretical exchange of views” about strategy with a member of the presidential office.
Part of what made Zarif’s candid remarks so explosive was his criticism of Qassem Soleimani.
Soleimani, the commander of the Guards’ elite Quds Force, was killed in a US attack in Baghdad in January 2020.
Since then, he has enjoyed status in Iran as a martyr.