The newspaper Kayhan, whose managing editor is appointed by Ali Khamenei, on Saturday, 10 October 2026, accused Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Islamic Republic's former foreign minister, of undermining national security and helping America. According to Iran International, the attack came after the re-circulation of an old video of Zarif in which he criticises the government's approach to neighbouring countries.
Kayhan wrote that every time America is in a tight spot, Zarif attacks the country's security bodies, and described his remarks as a suicide attack on the arms of national security. By these bodies the newspaper means the IRGC and the Quds Force.
Zarif's remarks on the Quds Force and ambassadors
In the video, Zarif says that if the Islamic Republic sees the region as a threat, its ambassadors should be Quds Force representatives, and if it sees it as an opportunity, its ambassadors should be merchants and diplomats. He also called on the government's factions to put aside the fight over the JCPOA and look to the future. The date and place of the recording have not been given in reports.
Zarif was the Islamic Republic's foreign minister from 2013 to 2021 and in those same years also defended the government's regional military power; his dispute with the hardliners is over how to pursue those same policies, not over the policies themselves.
Rift inside the Islamic Republic in wartime
Kayhan's attack on Zarif is the latest sign of the factional struggle in the Islamic Republic over the share of the armed forces and diplomacy in foreign policy — a struggle that has intensified with the war, the US naval blockade and the collapse of oil revenue, and public discontent. A few days ago, Hossein Shariatmadari in Kayhan had also questioned Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's role in negotiating with America.
The newspaper close to Khamenei called Zarif an accomplice of America for criticising the Quds Force's role in diplomacy.
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