Iran’s Foreign Minister posted his first comment on the Leaked recording

Shafaq News / Iran’s Foreign Minister, Muhammad Javad Zarif, posted on Instagram an audio from the same leak recording that spread via media.

"I think we should not work for history ... let's not worry about history, let us fear God and the people," Zarif said during this short, partial audio, according to Russia today.

This is the first comment of Zarif after the leaked recording.

Iran’s top diplomat complained in the leaked recording that the elite Revolutionary Guards had more influence in foreign affairs and the country’s nuclear dossier than him, in remarks that shine a light on ties between the government and the powerful force.

Relations between pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani's government and the Guards are important because the influence of the hardline paramilitary force is so great that it can disrupt any rapprochement with the West if it feels this would endanger its economic and political interests.

In the interview, aired by the London-based Iran International Persian-language satellite news channel late on Sunday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he had "zero" influence over Iran’s foreign policy.

"I have never been able to tell a military commander to do something in order to aid diplomacy," Zarif said.

Without disputing the audio's authenticity, the foreign ministry spokesman on Monday said that the news channel only published excerpts of the seven-hour interview with the foreign minister.

Using language rarely heard in politics in Iran, Zarif complained about the extent of influence the late IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani had over foreign policy, hinting that Soleimani tried to spoil Iran's 2015 nuclear deal by colluding with Russia.

"He (Soleimani) asked me to make this or that concession or point almost every time I went to negotiate (with world powers)," Zarif said in the recording, that was aired on the TV's Clubhouse channel on late Sunday.

"The (military) field's success was more important than diplomacy's success. I was negotiating for the (military) field's success."

Iran retaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where U.S. forces were stationed. Hours later, Iranian forces shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran. Days later, Iran's Guards admitted that the plane had been shot "mistakenly".

"I said (at the Supreme National Security meeting) that the world is saying the plane was hit with missiles. If the plane was really hit with missiles, tell us so we can see how we can fix it,” Zarif said in the recording.

"They told me:'no, go, go tweet and deny it'."

Although Zarif said he had no intention of running in Iran's June 18 presidential election, some critics said Zarif's comments were aimed at gaining votes from Iranians disillusioned by a stalled economy and lack of political and social freedoms.