Iranian Foreign Minister Apologizes for Leaked Comments

Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif. (AP file photo)
Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif. (AP file photo)
TT
20

Iranian Foreign Minister Apologizes for Leaked Comments

Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif. (AP file photo)
Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif. (AP file photo)

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 Mohammad Javad Zarif included frank comments on powerful late Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020. The attack at the time brought the US and Iran to the brink of war.

In the recordings, Zarif criticizes Soleimani’s separate relations with Russia and for refusing to stop using the national carrier Iran Air for Syrian operations despite Zarif’s objections. Iran Air has been sanctioned by the US.

Zarif said in an Instagram post Sunday he hoped 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’s leaked comments were highly controversial in Iran, where officials mind their words amid a cut-throat political environment that includes the Revolutionary Guard, ultimately overseen by the country’s supreme leader.

Besides the criticism of Soleimani, a top commander in the Guard, Zarif’s leaked remarks included cutting references to the limits of his power in the theocracy.

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.

Zarif has said he will not run for president in the upcoming election. Some had suggested him as a potential candidate to challenge hard-liners in the vote.



Japan's Emperor Begins a Weeklong Visit to Mongolia that will Honor POWs

President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Jens Eskelund talks during a press conference for the latest report on European companies in China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Jens Eskelund talks during a press conference for the latest report on European companies in China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
TT
20

Japan's Emperor Begins a Weeklong Visit to Mongolia that will Honor POWs

President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Jens Eskelund talks during a press conference for the latest report on European companies in China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Jens Eskelund talks during a press conference for the latest report on European companies in China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito began a weeklong visit to Mongolia on Sunday during which he plans to honor thousands of Japanese prisoners of World War II who were held under harsh conditions in the country.

Naruhito's visit marks the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. In recent years, he has toured some of the places where the bloodiest battles and bombings occurred, including Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Hiroshima. The emperor has said it's part of his effort at atonement and remembrance of the tragedy of war fought in the name of his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito, The AP news reported.

While the vast majority of Japanese soldiers were taken to Siberia, around 12,000 to 14,000 ended up in Mongolia, which was fighting alongside the Soviets against Japan.

Most of the POWs were put to hard labor and construction work for the Mongolian government’s headquarters, a state university and a theater that are still preserved in the capital Ulaanbaatar. The prisoners toiled under harsh conditions and scarce food. Japanese records show about 1,700 of them died in Mongolia.

“As we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war this year, we should never forget the pain and sorrow of the people,” Naruhito said last week. “I believe it is important to not forget those who died, deepen understanding of the wartime past and to nurture the peace-loving heart.”

Naruhito and Masako were scheduled to meet Mongolia's President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and his wife. The couple will also attend the opening ceremony of Naadam, Mongolia’s annual festival that focuses on three traditional games of horseracing, wrestling and archery.

Naruhito had previously visited Mongolia as crown prince in 2007.