Could Foreign Ministry shakeup impact Iran's regional policies?
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has rejected criticism over recent changes at the Foreign Ministry and the impact the changes could have on Iran’s regional policies.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has denied speculation that the recent change at the deputy foreign minister position is the result of appeasing foreign countries.
Author Arash Karami Posted June 22, 2016
Regarding the replacement of Hossein Amir-Abollahian, who had been the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs since 2011, Zarif said, “Decisions based on changes of senior positions at the Foreign Ministry were made before [March] and are based on the foreign programs and priorities of the country.” He called the replacement “completely natural.”
Some conservative media were critical of the replacement and speculated that new Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari had previously been “implicitly” critical of Iran’s policy in Syria and that the change was made to ease tensions between Iran and Arab countries in the Persian Gulf. Zarif denied these accusations. “There is not a bigger insult to the Islamic Republic than to claim that the change of an official is because of this or that person,” he said, adding, “Until now no one in the region or outside of it has dared to make such a request of Iran, and they never will.”
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