Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is again the focus of internal debate between supporters and opponents of the previous government's approach to nuclear negotiations.
Zarif responded to criticism against him in an Instagram post, following an interview stating his reasons for not running for presidential elections.
In an interview published last week, Zarif revealed details of a meeting with former reformist President Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Khomeini, who heads his grandfather's foundation, the first Iranian Supreme Guide.
He pointed out that he was pressured to run for the presidential race but announced the following day that he was not a candidate.
Zarif told Khatami that people would be punished for voting for him, as they were punished for voting for Rouhani in the 2017 elections for a second term, adding that he did not see his candidacy would benefit the country.
He also referred to a letter he addressed to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stressing that he did not intend to run in the elections and said, "I swore that I did not intend to participate in the elections."
Zarif also asked Khamenei to recommend that friends not refer to the nuclear deal in the elections.
The last Iranian presidential elections saw the lowest participation rate since the 1979 revolution.
Ahead of the elections last year, Zarif was a top candidate for the pro-government coalition in the presidential elections, but an audio leaked in April removed him from the race.
In an audio leak, Zarif criticizes the Russian role in the nuclear negotiations, accusing Moscow of trying to turn the tables on the Iranian talks.
The former official also criticizes the absence of compatible field activities and diplomacy in regional politics in the first statement by an official on the influence of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Iranian diplomacy.
In the new interview, Zarif said that he learned from Hessameddin Ashena, the then director of the Presidency Research Center, of the leak of the audio recording three days before it was published.
Zarif notes that two reformist politicians with ties to General Qassem Soleimani contacted him and confirmed that the recording had been leaked.
"I don't see any reason for this [leak] other than the conspiracy," he said.
A few days after the interview, a video containing old statements from Zarif about the nuclear deal and the Vienna talks between Iran and the 5+1 group was leaked.
Fars news agency, affiliated with the IRGC, reported that Zarif accuses his critics of being unable to write the nuclear agreement.
The agency wondered about the timing of the new leak, saying reformist media activists and politicians are trying to imply that the negotiating team in the current government does not have the required capabilities for the negotiations.
Zarif touched on the case of the assassination of scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh whom Western and Israeli governments have long suspected of being the mastermind of a secret nuclear weapons program.
He said Fakhrizadeh is one of the "most negligent people" in the security field, and he did not listen to his security team, adding that Israel's purpose was to destroy the nuclear agreement.
Zarif protested a new law passed by parliament after the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, under which Tehran made advanced nuclear violations.
In response to Zarif's comments, Fakhrizadeh's son, Hamid, wrote, "I wish I could be like you, and say what I want to say without taking the country's interests and national security issues into consideration."
The Iranian parliament adopted the Strategic Action Plan to Counter US Sanctions law two days after the assassination of Fakhrizadeh.
Meanwhile, the team of Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded to Zarif's criticism of the law on reducing nuclear commitments.
State-run Mehr news agency quoted the speaker's advisor on strategic affairs, Mehdi Mohammadi, as saying it is not hard to understand the reason behind the hatred of people like Zarif over the Strategic Action Plan.
Mohammadi noted that this law proved their mistakes in strategic assessments, adding that Ghalibaf fought a covert war for five months in preparation for passing this law.
