Tehran: – Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has caused a political earthquake in Iran with his statement, ‘The Revolutionary Guard Corps and General Qasem Soleimani had a grip on the Iranian foreign policy. President Hassan Rouhani has forced the chief of the think tank, who is responsible for publishing the interview, to resign. At the same time, 15 people connected to the leak of this audio tape have been detained. Iranian analysts claim that this is a bigger attack than an attack on the Iranian nuclear project. A Canada based Iranian website claimed that the Revolutionary Guards raided the offices of President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif after this. The claim could not be confirmed.
Centre for Strategic Studies, a think tank under the control of the Iranian President, had interviewed Foreign Minister Zarif last year. Zarif frankly presented the limitations on statesmanship in Iranian politics during this interview, which went on for nearly seven hours. Not a word of this interview had been published for the last one year. But four days ago, a London based Persian news channel leaked the audio tape of the interview.
In the audio, Zarif has accused that the military organisation, Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), is most influential in Iranian politics. Zarif has criticised in the audio that General Qasem Soleimani, while he was alive, was taking all the decisions regarding the Iranian foreign policy. Zarif said that Soleimani had attempted to scrap the US-Iran nuclear deal with Russia’s help and had tried to jeopardise Iranian interests by prolonging the conflict in Syria.
The political atmosphere in Iran has heated up over the comments regarding IRGC and General Soleimani. Demand for the resignation and impeachment of Zarif is becoming stronger in the Iranian parliament. Zarif has not returned to Iran since the leak of the tape. He is currently on a visit to Kuwait.
President Rouhani has ordered the government intelligence department to conduct an inquiry into the matter. He has also sacked Hesamodin Ashna, the chief of the concerned think tank. At the same time, 15 people connected to the leak of the audio tape have been detained. Ashna has expressed regret over the action on social media.
An Iranian website operating from Canada claimed that the IRGC raided the offices of President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif and took away important documents. There are no reports regarding this in the Iranian media, nor have the Iranian agencies confirmed this report.
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