Remarks By Iran's Foreign Minister In Audio Leak "Big Mistake": Top Leader

Top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif, a long-standing key member of moderate President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet, made the remarks in a three-hour "confidential" conversation first published by media outlets outside Iran a week ago.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Sunday slammed as a "big mistake" remarks by Iran's foreign minister, a week after audio emerged of the latter bemoaning the military's influence on diplomacy. Top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif, a long-standing key member of moderate President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet, made the remarks in a three-hour "confidential" conversation first published by media outlets outside Iran a week ago. The recording provoked anger from conservatives. But moderates have questioned who stood to gain from the leak, as presidential elections loom and amid pivotal talks seeking to revive a hobbled 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. "The country's policies are made of different economic, military, social, scientific and cultural plans, including foreign relations and diplomacy," Khamenei said in televised remarks.