A bloody day that plunges Lebanon into a climate of war

Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani revealed the circumstances of the “calming tensions” meeting with five senior leaders of the Revolutionary Guards, two weeks before the start of a second term in early August 2017, following the defeat of the current president, Ebrahim Raisi, in his first electoral experience.

Rouhani’s official website reported that he told a group of journalists that his meeting with the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard at the time was “for the sake of peace and friendship after the elections. They came to say that because you are elected, we will be by your side and we want to work together.”

Rouhani pointed out that the former head of foreign operations in the Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, asked him at the end of the meeting to name a defense minister from among the officers of the Revolutionary Guard.

However, a month after the aforementioned meeting, Rouhani presented Brigadier General Amir Hatami, an Iranian army officer, as Minister of Defense, excluding his first Defense Minister, Hossein Dehghan, who was a Revolutionary Guard officer. It was the first time that the Iranian president appointed an army leader as Minister of Defense, after merging the “Ministry of the Revolutionary Guard” with the Ministry of Defense in 1989.

Rouhani’s words confirm the various reports about Dehghan’s continuation or departure from the ministerial lineup. The Iranian President’s desire to transfer the position to an army commander.

Rouhani said that he chose his entire ministerial team after the advice of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It is known that the president is obliged to obtain prior approval from the Leader in naming five ministers. Minister of Defence, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, Culture and Information.

Rouhani’s account of the famous meeting, about which accounts and speculation varied, especially since it came after the tension between the former president and the leaders of the Revolutionary Guards reached its peak at the borderline between the signing of the nuclear agreement, in the summer of 2015, and the Iranian presidential elections of 2017, in which Rouhani defeated the supported candidate. From the Revolutionary Guard at the time, the current president, Ibrahim Raisi.

Rouhani’s website pointed out that a conversation by a group of editors of the reformist Etemad newspaper dates back to mid-February, two weeks before the elections for the Leadership Council of Experts, the body responsible for naming the successor to Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, from which Rouhani was enslaved after 24 years. Council membership. The elections for “leadership experts” coincided with the legislative elections.

The new account of the tense relationship between the Guard and the previous government comes days after the publication of former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s book, “The Depth of Patience.” Zarif revealed that he and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani were not informed of the attack on the Ain al-Assad base, while former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and American leaders received messages from Tehran regarding intentions to bomb American forces with ballistic missiles.

“Calming tensions”

Rouhani’s account of the controversial meeting with the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard is added to other conflicting accounts, some of which were reported by officials close to Rouhani himself.

The meeting was attended by the former commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Muhammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Quds Force, the external arm of the Guard, Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the missile unit in the Guard, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and the former commander of the Basij, Gholam Hossein Gheippour. The former commander of the “Thar Allah” unit responsible for Tehran’s security in times of crisis, Ismail Kosari, is a current member of parliament and was re-elected to the next parliament.

Official statements described the atmosphere of the meeting as “friendly,” without revealing the details of what happened. During the meeting, Rouhani urged the five leaders to “preserve unity and cohesion among all forces and regime agencies to implement the guide’s recommendations.”

Rouhani’s period witnessed tense relations between his administration and the leaders of the most influential apparatus in the country, which has agencies parallel to army units, economic arms, and an apparatus parallel to the Ministry of Intelligence, and its foreign arm, the Quds Force, plays a supervisory and executive role in foreign policy, especially regional policy.

The tension reached its peak during the 2017 presidential elections, when Rouhani described the Revolutionary Guards as “the government that owns the gun,” and said that he heads a government that “does not have the gun,” criticizing in particular the missile activities of the Revolutionary Guards, after… A few months after the signing of the nuclear agreement, in July 2015, as well as the entry into force of the agreement in mid-January 2016.

In his election campaign, Rouhani also criticized the role of the “Guards” in the media, as well as the support they provided to his competitor, Ebrahim Raisi, at the time.

A leaked audio recording of former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in March 2021, confirmed the depth of tension between the previous government and the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard, especially Qasem Soleimani. Zarif accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of seeking to sabotage the nuclear agreement, by inviting Soleimani to visit the Kremlin, in order to persuade him to expand operations in Syria. He expresses his regret that “diplomacy” is making sacrifices in its regional policy, for the sake of the field, in reference to the regional activities of the “Revolutionary Guard.”

Zarif challenged the Revolutionary Guard media’s narrative about Soleimani’s “success” in convincing Putin to enter the Syrian war, explaining that it was a “premeditated plan” by Putin to turn the tables on the nuclear agreement, when he invited Soleimani to visit Moscow. Putin visited Tehran on November 23, 2015, and met with Khamenei.

Different narratives

With the exception of Soleimani, who was killed in an American strike, about three and a half years after the meeting, the leaders of the Guard presented their accounts of the meeting, the details of which remained secret for days, although many linked it to the war of words between Rouhani and the leaders of the Guard.

Days after the meeting, Kayhan newspaper reported at the end of July 2017 that the main focus was criticizing the government’s performance and positions in the field of security and defending the basic values ​​of the revolution, noting that the leaders asked Rouhani to prevent the emergence of literature different from the literature of the revolution.

As for discussing the economic situation and the ministerial formation, the newspaper claimed that “the leaders of the Guard do not consider entering the two areas among their powers… They do not think about what concerns the president’s powers.”

Hours after the “Keyhan” novel was published, Basij head Gholam Hossein Gheippour, who attended the meeting, said that “the atmosphere was friendly,” and that “the Guard group sees Rouhani as the legal president of the country.” Rouhani was quoted as saying: “It is not It is decided that making statements that conflict with the interests of the regime at the head of which is the Guardian of the Jurist.”

As for the other story, it was stated by General Ismail Kothari, who later returned to Parliament. Kothari said in a television interview that “the meeting was frank,” explaining that both sides presented their criticism, but he said: “Certainly the meeting was friendly in order to prevent those outside the borders from misusing the situation.”

For his part, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Muhammad Ali Jafari, said: The concerns that were raised at the meeting were preoccupying the leaders of the Guard… They were special situations in the elections… In our opinion, many of those concerned for the regime felt dissatisfied with the atmosphere. “It was necessary to take such a step for unity and to prevent the widening of the gap between the revolutionary forces.” He added: “Of course, it was a serious discussion, but it was welcomed because the goal was honest and sincere.”

In the footsteps of Ahmadinejad

But the most frank account came on the second anniversary of Soleimani’s killing, from the commander of the missile unit of the Revolutionary Guards, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who said in an interview published by Kayhan newspaper that Soleimani and the leaders of the Guards issued a strong warning to Rouhani in the meeting. , regarding his differing positions with Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei.

According to Hajizadeh’s account: “Soleimani told Rouhani that defending the revolution, the regime, and the leader is a red line for us, and you should not think that you can always distort and that we remain silent.”

Hajizadeh responded to an official regarding what is being said about Soleimani’s support for the nuclear deal, saying: “If that is the case; So why did Zarif say in the audio recording that he had damaged diplomacy? The commander of the diplomatic corps says he harmed us.”

Hajizadeh said, “The guide was saying something, and the following week, Rouhani took a position and distorted (the Revolutionary Guards). He was attacking inside every day. “The message we went to the meeting was to tell Rouhani that we are helping him.” Pointing out that Soleimani asked Rouhani “whether he wanted to continue in the path of Ahmadinejad, or whether he wanted to become like him.”