Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, has criticised former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) chief Qassem Soleimani for interfering in Iranian diplomacy in a leaked audio recording, and admitted to his influence over Iranian foreign policy to be sometimes zero.
Zarif made these comments in an interview he gave in March last year. He has said that his remarks have been distorted by using selective quotes obtained by the London-based Iran International television channel.
Soleimani, an important figure in Iran’s military, was killed in a drone attack by the US in Baghdad in January 2020. Relations between Iran and the US have been tense ever since. The audio leak comes as tussle over the revival of the nuclear deal with the West intensifies. Indirect talks to revive the 2015 deal, that former president Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018, between Iran and the US via Vienna are due to resume this week.
Zarif, in his comments, has said that Soleimani wanted to further diplomacy that served Iran’s military operations in the region. He also said that Soleimani ignored the former’s pleas to refrain from using Iranian national airline for transportation to Syria and that increased pressure by the IRGC chief led to an increase in flights to Syria to supply weapons and fighters to support Bashar al-Assad.
Zarif, in the recording, can also be heard saying that Soleimani visited Russia after the 2015 nuclear deal was struck, with an intention to destroy the agreement.
The Iranian foreign ministry confirmed the authenticity of the interview but said it was designed to be an internal record. The recording was claimed as an exclusive by Iran International, a Persian language network viewed by Tehran as hostile and owned by Saudi Arabians.