Reactions to Zarif's interview: From the dilemma of the dual structure to "scandal" and "lies"

The government says Zarif's "confidential" conversation should not be judged "hastily and unfairly." Some see its release as a way to undermine the Vienna talks, while others see it as a "scandal." Families of Ukrainian plane victims call Zarif a liar.

In an attempt to downplay the fallout from the release of Zarif’s interview, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh called it a “routine and confidential matter in the government” and stressed that one should not make “hasty judgments” based on parts of it. His remarks were aimed at hardliners in the Iranian government, who have been heavily criticized and attacked since the file was released by Persian-language media abroad the previous day (April 26).

In parts of this interview with economic journalist Saeed Lailaz, Zarif has revealed the behind-the-scenes of many major policy decisions in the Islamic Republic. He has spoken about Russia's destructive role in preventing the JCPOA from coming to fruition, how to deal with the news of the downing of the Ukrainian plane, and the role of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force, in foreign policy and national affairs.

Zarif says about Russia’s destructive role in part of the interview: “From the day the JCPOA was finalized, July 13, 2015, to the day the JCPOA was finalized, January 16, 2015, in about six months, many measures were taken to derail the JCPOA.” He adds that “Russia’s will was that the JCPOA not be implemented,” and “it was in Russia’s interest that our relations with the West not become critical, but it did not want this relationship to become normal.”

Elsewhere, he says that he was informed of the extent of Israel's attacks on Iranian forces in Syria by his former American counterpart, John Kerry.

Regarding Qassem Soleimani, the Foreign Minister of the Rouhani government has made statements that are not to the liking of the extremists: "We claim that Mr. Soleimani dragged Putin into war. But Putin had made his decision. Putin entered the war, but with the air force, but he also dragged Iran's ground forces into war. We did not have a ground force until then. There were Syrians, Arabs, Afghans, and volunteers."

Who is in a hurry?

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said about the publication of the interview that it was not clear "who published it and why" and that "there was a zeal in some media outlets to interrupt Zarif's speech, but it should be seen as a whole."

He called on "everyone" to "fairly judge" and said: "It's not like these are contrary to our declared policies."

But "not everyone" is willing to simply pass up the opportunity. Reacting to Zarif's audio, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Twitter: "Hajj Qasem's resourcefulness and courage would have conquered the fields and opened the paths of diplomacy; nothing but politics or naivety can hide this clear truth."

The tweet continued: "Now that Hajj Qassem is gone, we will not allow them to persecute him and distort the historical role of martyr Soleimani through opportunism to achieve their political goals."

The goal: to destroy Zarif and harm the Vienna negotiations.

Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, told IRNA on Monday that the release of the Foreign Minister’s audio file “was done with the aim of damaging the Vienna talks.” According to him, “Zarif trusted the entire government” and it is the “Zionists” who want to use it as a weapon to “destroy the diplomatic apparatus.” Jahanabadi called for the security agencies to identify the factors behind the release of the file.

At the same time, Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, a representative of the people of Qom in the parliament, announced that an "investigation plan" regarding this audio file will be quickly developed and "will be followed up." He said that "the factors involved in (leaking) confidential and secret information of the country will be introduced to the judiciary in this regard."

Nasrollah Pejmanfar, head of the Parliament's Article 90 Commission, has demanded that Zarif explain the content of the interview, saying that he "seems to not know that the foreign minister is a country like the Islamic Republic of Iran and that he is challenging issues that are among the red lines of the Islamic Republic, in which he holds the position of Foreign Minister."

He criticized Zarif for "after 40 years in the field of diplomacy in the Islamic Republic of Iran, it seems he still does not understand the red lines of the regime and the regime's policy in the field of foreign policy."

A security scandal?

Saeed Leylaz's interview with Mohammad Javad Zarif was conducted in March 2020 as part of an "oral history" project under the supervision of the Presidential Center for Strategic Studies.

Fars News Agency reported in February last year that President Hassan Rouhani of Iran had launched his own “Center for Preservation and Publication of Works” with Mohammad Qochani as secretary and titled it “Council for Compilation, Collection and Arrangement of the Works of Ayatollah Hassan Rouhani.” It also stated that “the first project that Qochani is implementing in this council is the compilation of a book titled (Revival of Hope), which is to be compiled based on interviews with prominent political figures about Rouhani and his services.”

In the first reactions to the publication of this interview, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson emphasized that "this conversation was recorded solely to be recorded in the organizational memory of the Government of Prudence and Hope."

But this audio file became a media controversy instead of "reviving hope."

The Farhikhtegan newspaper referred to it as a “familiar scandal” and wrote: “Interestingly, Rouhani was the secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council for many years, and the acquaintance, advisor, and person in charge of the recent project also had a long history of working in the Ministry of Intelligence. How is it possible to believe that the country’s confidential audio file, a file in which the Foreign Minister made very important statements during his national mission, is now in the possession of a foreigner? Regardless of its content, the Zarif audio file is a major scandal for the Rouhani government.”

“The problem of the constitution and parallel structures”

Elsewhere, scholars have asked this report, "How can a political project be managed from start to finish in an institution under the supervision of the president, and ultimately its output in London is at the disposal of the counter-revolution?!"

In response to these remarks, journalists from many domestic media outlets have said on social media that this question is meaningless in a country where confidential nuclear documents are smuggled out of the country in pickup trucks, where its nuclear site has been attacked twice in a short period of time, and where several key figures in its nuclear program have been assassinated in broad daylight.

Brigadier General Hossein Alaei, the first commander of the IRGC Navy, also said in an interview with Khabar Online that paying attention to the content of Zarif's remarks in this interview indicates that "he is showing the problems in the structure of governing his country everywhere, including in foreign policy and diplomacy."

He linked the problem to the constitution and added: "Due to the shortcomings in the constitution and other laws of the country, there is no necessary coherence in the administration of the country, and parallel agencies are active in all areas, sometimes dealing severe blows to national interests."

Sharq newspaper described the Foreign Minister's revelations as Zarif's "unprecedented" positions "on the performance of General Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guards, and Russia's performance in Iran's foreign policy arena," and Mohammad Ali Abtahi considers the people who released the audio file to be those who intend to "injustice Zarif and Soleimani," but added that despite "the great fuss, there was nothing special in it that had not been said before."

Tasnim News Agency has blamed Rouhani's advisor, Hesameddin Ashena, for leaking the interview, and demanded that he "be held accountable for this great scandal involving himself and his subordinates."

Hesamuddin Ashna also claimed innocence and wrote on his Twitter account, without mentioning who was responsible, "God willing, this possible malicious intent and malice will come back to haunt them."

To somehow "cure" the plane crash

One of the most controversial parts of Zarif’s interview is when he says he didn’t know for three days how the Ukrainian plane was shot down. He describes the scene as follows: “On Wednesday morning, they shot down the Ukrainian plane. On Friday afternoon, I went to a special meeting of the Security Council Secretariat and said, ‘Now the world is saying it was hit by a missile. If it really was hit by a missile, tell me so we can see how we can fix it. God is my witness. They treated me as if I had blasphemed the devil.’”

Hamed Esmailiyon, a family member of the victims of the Ukrainian plane shot down by the Revolutionary Guards, responded to Zarif's remarks by calling him a liar and saying he was trying to portray him as an oppressor. His reaction was widely echoed on social media.