Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Feb. 28, 2019 – The top commander of the Iranian regime’s notorious Quds Force stated his support for foreign minister Javad Zarif after the latter declared his resignation from his post earlier this week.
“Zarif is in charge of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic and has the approval of senior establishment officials, especially [Iranian regime supreme leader Ali] Khamenei,” said Qassem Suleimani, who has been at the helm of the Quds Force’s operations for more than two decades. “During the visit of [Syrian regime president] Bashar al-Assad to Tehran and his meeting with Rouhani, there was a lack of coordination in the presidential institution, which resulted in the absence of the FM and his dissatisfaction.”
On Monday, Zarif declared his resignation in an Instagram post after he was sidelined in Assad’s visit to Iran. Zarif’s resignation triggered controversy in the highest levels of power in the Iranian regime. Regime President Hassan Rouhani did not accept Zarif’s resignation, and the FM was back in office soon after, doing photo ops with a delegation from Armenia that had traveled to Iran.
It’s very hard to believe that not bringing the foreign minister to an important meeting with a foreign delegation from a top regime ally has been mere miscoordination. But Suleimani’s remarks indicate some very important facts.
The resignation (and overnight return) of Zarif is testament to the crises that are riddling the Iranian regime at all levels and the deadlocks that the regime is facing on different important issues such as the nuclear deal and FATF regulations, a set of international regulatory requirements that will shorthand the regime in its funding of terrorist groups. Rivaling ruling factions are virtually at each other’s throats and blaming each other for the different problems that the regime is facing.
After his short-lived resignation, Zarif lamented that infighting among Iranian officials was like poison for the regime.
Also, it’s ironic to see the mastermind of the regime’s terror apparatus to voice his support for Zarif, which many western politicians describe as "moderate" and "soft-spoken." Suleimani’s Quds Force is the main entity behind the regime’s foreign terrorism and has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. since 2007.
In the past year, the regime has increased its terror activities abroad, especially in Europe, against members and supporters of the Iranian opposition. The terror plots have been carried out and planned through the regime’s embassies and diplomatic channels and in direct coordination with the regime's foreign ministry.
Suleiman’s support for Zarif shows how much the latter is vital to the regime’s foreign terrorism campaigns. Rivaling regime factions might quarrel over minor issues, but when it comes to terrorizing Iranian opposition members, they are of a like mind.
