In Teheran, the daily newspaper Keyhan, of which the director is none other than the Supreme Leader’s spokesperson, stirred a sharp controversy. According to the paper, the Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister, Mohamad Javad Zarif, and the president, Sheikh Hassan Rouhani, are allegedly in the middle of a serious disagreement over how to approach the dialogue with the United States.

Mr. Zarif supposedly would have disapproved of the 15-minute telephone conversation between the Iranian and American presidents, as well as the prolonged meeting with the Secretary of State John Kerry.

Although M. Zarif denied theses allegations, Keyhan maintained them. The minister later declared being drained by this affair, and was admitted to the hospital.

The comments attributed to Mohammad Javad Zarif aren’t the only criticisms leveled against the president. General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, while congratulating sheikh Rohani for his diplomatic initiative, has qualified the telephone exchange as a ’’tactical error’’.

Translation
Alizée Ville