Karim Sadjadpour on International Peace

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Why do you think this was leaked? And why does it matter?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: It’s tough to say why it was leaked, Christiane. I assume it was enemies of Foreign Minister Zarif who leaked the tape, because they don’t want to see a future for him in Iranian politics. I don’t think that he himself leaked it. Why it matters, it essentially reveals something that you and I have known for a long time, which is that there are essentially two parallel regimes working in concert in Iran. You have a deep state led by the supreme leader and the Revolutionary Guards. And these are the forces that build Iran’s clandestine nuclear facilities. They cultivate regional militias. They support Hezbollah. They oppose Israel. They’re the forces that crush internal dissent within Iran. They take hostages. In some cases, they conduct assassinations. And you have another parallel state in Iran, which is led by President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif. And they essentially have very little power, but they have accountability. And I think one of the things that Zarif was talking about in this interview is the fact that he is someone who has essentially been powerless. The power in Iran belongs to the supreme leader and the Revolutionary Guards. And after eight years of essentially absorbing accountability for all the goes wrong in Iran, I think he was trying to reveal something that we all knew, which is accountability belongs elsewhere.