Leaked Mohammad Javad Zarif audiotape

According to Zarif, in the last week of JCPOA's signing, Russia did its best to prevent the agreement from succeeding. In this regard, he refers to the famous photo of the foreign ministers of the countries after the agreement was reached in which the Russian foreign minister is absent.[1]

In April 2021, more than three hours of audiotape was leaked from a seven-hour interview between economist Saeed Leylaz and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The taped conversation was connected to an oral history project, titled "In the Islamic Republic, the military field rules," that documents the work of then-president Hassan Rouhani and his government.[2][3][4] The tape was obtained by the London-based news channel Iran International and publicized by The New York Times.[5] Zarif did not dispute the authenticity of the leaked tape, but questioned the motive.[3] Iran International noted[6] that Zarif's claim was "not very credible."[7]

Although the tape has not been authenticated, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman did not deny its validity, and critics of Zarif were calling for his resignation, saying that "he had threatened Iran’s national security by revealing to the world the country’s inner politics".[8][9] Iran's president Hassan Rouhani ordered an investigation to identify who leaked the tape. He stated that it was "stolen for clear reasons".[10] On May 2, 2021, in an Instagram post, Zarif apologized for the remarks that he made against Soleimani.[11]

  1. ^ "انتشار فایل صوتی ظریف درباره سلیمانی و کارشکنی روسیه در برجام". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 2021-04-25. Archived from the original on 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  2. ^ "In Leaked Audio, Iran's Foreign Minister Criticizes Influence Of Revolutionary Guards". NPR. Archived from the original on 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  3. ^ a b Fassihi, Farnaz (2021-04-26). "Iran's Foreign Minister, in Leaked Tape, Says Revolutionary Guards Set Policies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  4. ^ "Iran foreign minister criticises power of Qassem Suleimani in leaked interview". The Guardian. 2021-04-25. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  5. ^ Blake, Aaron (April 28, 2021). "The John Kerry-Iran controversy, explained". The Washington Post.
  6. ^ "Exclusive: Zarif Claims Soleimani Intervened In Diplomacy, Russia Wanted To Destroy JCPOA". Iran International. 25 April 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  7. ^ Tara Subramaniam (May 2021). "The facts around leaked audio about John Kerry". CNN. Archived from the original on 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  8. ^ Fassihi, Farnaz (2021-04-26). "Iran's Foreign Minister, in Leaked Tape, Says Revolutionary Guards Set Policies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  9. ^ Mostafa Salem and Ramin Mostaghim (26 April 2021). "In leaked tape, Iran's foreign minister criticizes Revolutionary Guards, Qasem Soleimani". CNN. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  10. ^ "Iran orders probe into leaked Zarif audio 'conspiracy'". Hindustan Times. 2021-04-27. Archived from the original on 2021-05-02. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  11. ^ "Zarif apologizes for leaked comments about Soleimani". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-02.