WithAref apologized today for the statements recorded, and published last week, in which he criticized the army’s influence on diplomacy, which sparked discord in the country less than two months after the date of the presidential elections.
The recordings of Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif included comments about the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a drone attack in the United States of America in 2020, according to the Associated Press, indicating that the situation sparked a conflict between the two countries. .
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stressed in a televised speech that “the country’s policy includes the economic, military, social, scientific and cultural aspects of the country, in addition to foreign and diplomatic relations,” adding that, “if one denies or contradicts the other, it is not a grave mistake for any responsible person to act.” For the Islamic Republic [do Irão] You must not commit. “
Minister Zarif criticized Soleimani’s relations with Russia in the audio recording, which was released last week, and for his refusal to stop using the national carrier Iran Air in operations in Syria. Iran Air has been sanctioned by the United States.
In a post on Instagram, the Iranian foreign minister said he hoped Soleimani’s family would forgive him.
“I hope the great Iranian people and all the general’s supporters will forgive me, especially the big Soleimani family,” said Zarif, who has been heading the country’s diplomacy since 2013.
The minister’s comments sparked much controversy in Iran, although he emphasized that the audio will not be broadcast.
The recording, which lasted three hours, and was published by the media abroad, sparked severe criticism in Iran, specifically in the core of the conservatives, and condemned Zarif for questioning the main political lines of the country’s government.
On Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ordered an investigation after the audio recording, which contained statements by the Iranian Foreign Minister criticizing the role of General Qassem Soleimani in the country’s foreign policy, escaped.
In an excerpt published by the American New York Times, the minister defends: “In the Islamic Republic, the military sphere prevails. You have sacrificed diplomacy.” [em favor] The political sphere, “but the” military sphere “must be” at the service of diplomacy. “
Although some have suggested him as a possible candidate for presidential candidates, Zarif said he would not run for president in the upcoming elections, which will take place in less than two months.
“We believe that stealing data is a plot against the government, the system, the integrity of national institutions, and also against our national interests,” government spokesman Ali Rabei told reporters.
Qassem Soleimani, dubbed “the man on the battlefield,” was killed during a US drone attack in Baghdad in January 2020.
Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force, responsible for the external operations of the Revolutionary Guard, the ideological arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s army.
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