Leaked Javad Zarif recording stirs hot political debate in Iran

Foreign minister’s private comments on power struggles within the Iranian establishment ignite controversy.

Tehran, Iran – A leaked interview in which Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif frankly discusses behind-the-scenes manoeuvres in Iranian politics has stirred fierce conversation and debate ahead of the country’s presidential elections in June. More than three hours of audio from an interview in March with government-aligned journalist and economist Saeed Leylaz was anonymously leaked to Farsi-language media outside Iran on Sunday. Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the original interview was seven hours long, part of an oral history project that also includes interviews with other ministers, and urged people to analyse it with caution as it may have been leaked for political purposes.