An Iranian government official stated that President Hassan Rouhani ordered a probe to reveal how this recording of Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was leaked to the media. The announcement came from the government spokesperson Ali Rabiei. Speaking to reporters, Rabiei said, “We believe this theft of documents is a conspiracy against the government, the system, the integrity of effective domestic institutions, and also against our national interests.”
The spokesperson also said that Rouhani charged the intelligence ministry to detect the agents who were involved in this “conspiracy.”
On Sunday, Iran was shaken by a leaked tape circulated by foreign media outlets. In this recording, it was heard that the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif made statements on several sensitive issues, including the Russian attempts to undermine the 2015 nuclear deal and the late commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp Qassem Soleimani’s influence on Iranian diplomacy.
Also, the Iranian Foreign Minister was heard in the leaked audio claiming that the former US Secretary of State John Kerry provided him information about hundreds of covert Israeli operations in Syria.
Speaking upon the incident at the weekly press briefing conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the “selectively edited” recording is a part of a seven-hour interview, without denying the authenticity of the audio. The leaked tape includes Zarif’s personal opinion, Khatibzadeh added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has left requests to comment on the latest incident unanswered.
