Zarif: I Hope Iranians Will Forgive Me

Date: 02 May 2021 - 21:50

News ID: ۸۹۸۴۹

TEHRAN (Dispatches) — Iran’s foreign minister apologized Sunday for recorded comments that were leaked to the public last week, creating a firestorm in Iran less than two months before presidential elections.
The recordings of Muhammad Javad Zarif included controversial comments on legendary Iranian commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike in 2020. Gen. Soleimani’s funeral processions in Iran and Iraq drew tens of millions of people to the streets.
Zarif said in an Instagram post Sunday he hoped Gen. Soleimani’s family would forgive him. "I hope that the great people of Iran and all the lovers of General (Soleimani) and especially the great family of Soleimani, will forgive me,” he said.
Zarif can be heard saying at various points in the seven-hour tape that it was not meant for release.
"If I had known that a sentence of it would be made public, I certainly would not have mentioned it as before,” he said in his Instagram post.