Mohammad Javad Zarif
...Persian foreign minister, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...also said he regretted that the leak had triggered "domestic infighting," amid a furious reaction from conservative figures and media outlets.
"I was very sorry that a secret theoretical talk regarding the need for synergy between diplomacy and the (military) field ... turns into domestic infighting," Iran's top diplomat said on his Instagram account.
"Honest and passionate" argument in a private setting had been misconstrued as "personal criticism," AFP quoted him as saying.
But Zarif also appeared to stick by the core argument that he made in the leaked audio.
He said on Wednesday that the "main point" of his remarks in the audio -- in which he says the military has too much influence on diplomacy -- is emphasizing "the need for a smart adjustment of the relationship between" diplomacy and the military.
Zarif also said on Wednesday he saw a need for "setting priorities through legal structures and under the great purview of the supreme leader," Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani
...Iran's
moderatepresident, which he is, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he's anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man...
has ordered a probe to identify who leaked the "stolen" three-hour recording.
His moderate government has sought to downplay the remarks, which were leaked ahead of the June elections and as Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for
spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
and world powers discuss ways to revive a 2015 nuclear accord.
In Iran "the military field rules," Zarif said in the audio tape, published by several media outlets outside Iran on Sunday. "I have sacrified diplomacy for the military field rather than the field servicing diplomacy".
Comments he made about Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm who was killed in a US
...
KABOOM!...
last year, especially hit a nerve, with Zarif specifically addressing that in his Instagram post.
"I have had the honor of deep friendship and cooperation with haj Qasem (Soleimani) for more than two decades," he wrote, noting that he has repeatedly reminded the world of Soleimani's "humanity, peacefulness and courage".
He also defended his track record by stressing that he has "always followed the country's internally agreed policies and strongly defended them".
"Safeguarding the country's interests and... (those of) the patient and valiant people of Iran is an oath I will stand by until the last moment," Zarif pledged.
"But I have considered appeasement and self-censorship in expert opinion to be a betrayal," he added.