"Controversial" Ambassador Leaves Tehran; Jalali: Russia Will Send New Ambassador to Iran

Kazem Jalali, Iran's ambassador to Moscow, announced on Tuesday, September 5, the change of the Russian ambassador to Tehran.

Mr. Jalali tweeted: "Today I met with Alexei Dedov. He will soon begin work as the new Russian ambassador to Iran. Both sides emphasized that Iran-Russia relations are in one of the best periods in their history."

The Iranian ambassador to Moscow thanked the efforts of "Levan Dzhagarian, the former Russian ambassador," and "wished success" to Alexei Dedov.

Levan Jagarian's statements and actions over the past year have sparked widespread reactions in Iran, including his interview with Shargh newspaper in July of this year, which drew criticism from the Iranian Foreign Ministry as well as the Salami Republic newspaper.

In part of this interview, he said: "Western governments only aim to bring their absurd values, such as homosexuality and very dirty things, to Iran, but we oppose it."

Nasser Kanani, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, responded to a reporter who asked him whether the Ershad patrol's encounters were being carried out on Russian orders: "We certainly do not expect respected foreign ambassadors residing in Tehran to comment on or intervene in Iran's internal issues and problems."

On July 18, the Islamic Republic newspaper wrote in an article titled "The Russian Ambassador and the Literature of the Qajar Era": "The current Russian ambassador in Tehran is trying to repeat the interventionist performances of the Russian and British ambassadors in the court of the Qajar kings these days, although he does not take into account that he was born about two centuries later and has taken everything for granted."

Levan Dzhagarian had previously faced widespread negative reaction in Iran after publishing a photo of himself paying homage to Alexander Griboyedov, one of the drafters of the Treaty of Turkmenchay.

After widespread negative reactions from Iranians on social media, the Russian ambassador to Iran said: "Griboyedov is an enemy for you, but for us he is a great poet and outstanding diplomat."

In an interview with the Etemad newspaper published on Wednesday, March 15, Levan Jagarian also added: "I did not sit there with the picture of the Shah, there was no picture of Pahlavi and Farah Pahlavi, we respect the people of Iran, but let us have our own opinion."

Alexander Griboyedov, a Russian poet and composer who was a Russian military commander in the Caucasus during the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, played a role in drafting the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which resulted in the loss of large parts of Iranian territory. He was killed by protesters in Tehran on 9 Bahman 1207.

The publication of a joint photo of the Russian and British ambassadors to commemorate the Tehran Conference in 1943 by the Russian Embassy in August last year also sparked widespread reactions on social media in Iran, leading the speaker of the parliament to demand an apology from the two ambassadors.

In this photo, the Russian ambassador to Iran is seen next to the new head of the British diplomatic mission in Iran and an empty chair at the top of the entrance steps of the Russian embassy building.

The caption for the photo in the Russian embassy's tweet, published on Wednesday, stated that the photo of the meeting between the two Russian and British officials was taken on the "historical staircase" of the Russian embassy, ​​where the 1943 Tehran Conference was held.

Relations between Iran and Russia have always been viewed with pessimism by a number of Iranian citizens for historical reasons, but the Islamic Republic has attempted to expand its relations with Moscow over the past decade.

Source: Radio Farda