私たちは、40年にわたる中東政策の既成概念を根底から覆し、アブラハム合意の締結を成功させました。しかし、バイデン政権はすでに、オバマ政権で作られた政策に逆戻りしています。これは非常に危険な過ちである。
@pompeosecretary
米国を戦争に導くのが民主党のミッション。軍産複合体とかつて呼ばれた利害共同体は消えたわけではない。SuperPACの時代になって企業系献金は小さく見えるようになった。いわゆる個人の大金持ち「２０２０年の選挙で献金額がトップだったのは、「カジノ王」と呼ばれ１１日に死去したアデルソン氏と妻のミリアム・アデルソン氏で、共和党に２億１８００万ドルを寄付した。２位はブルームバーグ氏で、民主党に１億５２００万ドルを寄付した。」が主役と言われるが、やることが同じなので本質は変わっていない。
We fundamentally upended 40 years of establishment Middle East policy — resulting in the successful signings of the Abraham Accords. But already, the Biden Administration has reverted back to the same policies created in the Obama Administration. It’s an enormously risky mistake.
@pompeosecretary
日経
【ドバイ=岐部秀光、ワシントン=中村亮】イランのザリフ外相の肉声とされる音声の流出がイラン核合意の再建交渉に波紋を広げている。イランでは核合意の立て直しを探るザリフ氏が反米意識の強い軍組織を批判したとして対米強硬派が反発。米国でもバイデン政権高官が過去にイランへ機密を漏らした疑惑が浮上し、政権の対イラン融和方針に反発が広がる。
米国とイランは27日、オーストリアの首都ウィーンで核合意再建に向けた間接協議をした。米国はこれまでの協議で、イランへの経済制裁のうち解除対象とするリストを示しており、今回もリストの詳細を協議したとみられる。協議では米国による制裁解除とイランによる核開発制限の履行に向けた手順などが焦点になっている。
協議に先立ち、米国とイランの交渉に新たな火種が加わった。英国に拠点を置く中東系メディアが報じたイランのザリフ氏の音声の記録だ。政権の成果を記録する目的で3月に収録したとされる。ザリフ氏は穏健派で国際協調路線を志向し、核合意を立て直す役割を担っている。
録音によると、イランのエコノミストとの会話でザリフ氏は「イランでは軍部と外交（の力関係）があべこべになっている」などと述べた。イラン革命防衛隊のカリスマ司令官で2020年1月に米軍に殺害されたソレイマニ氏についても、シリア政策や対ロシア外交で外務省に過大な要求を突きつけていたと批判した。革命防衛隊は1979年のイスラム革命の守護者を自任し、最高指導者ハメネイ師に直結する強力な組織。イランではその批判は大きなタブーだ。
真偽や流出した背景などは不明だが、イラン国内の穏健派と強硬派の分断を示している可能性がある。保守系のタスニム通信は「このような誤った認識が国家に損害を与えてきた」とザリフ氏を批判した。6月の大統領選挙は強硬派が優勢とされる。核合意の修復をめぐる交渉は現政権のうちに道筋がつかなければ、次期政権での交渉は一段と困難になる。
音声記録は米国にも飛び火した。録音によると、オバマ政権で国務長官を務めたジョン・ケリー氏がザリフ氏に対し、イスラエルがシリアでイラン関連施設などを少なくとも200回にわたって攻撃したと伝えた。ザリフ氏はケリー氏が機密情報に触れたことに驚いたという。
野党・共和党からはケリー氏への批判が相次いだ。ダン・サリバン上院議員は米メディアのインタビューで「ケリー氏はこれまでに耐えがたい数多くのことをしたが、今回は堪忍袋の緒が切れた」と不満をぶちまけた。穏健派のミット・ロムニー上院議員も「とても困った出来事だ」と懸念を示した。
共和党は対イラン強硬派が多く、大半の議員が核合意復帰に反対している。ケリー氏がバイデン政権で大統領特使（気候変動問題担当）を務めていることもあり、共和党はバイデン政権のイランとの対話路線に一段と反発する公算が大きい。
ケリー氏は26日、機密漏洩の疑惑について「明らかな誤りだと言える。国務長官在任中もそれ以降もこのようなことはなかった」とツイッターで否定した。ケリー氏はザリフ氏に伝えた数字は公開済みの情報だとの認識を示している。
Secretary Kerry, can you please explain to the American people why you disclosed information about Israeli operations to Iranian FM Javad Zarif? We’ve known for years you were helping him. Americans deserve to know why.
@pompeosecretary
Leaked tape pulls back curtain on Iran's foreign policy
Karim Sadjadpour explains the significance of a leaked audio tape where Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks out about Gen. Qasem Soleimani and criticizes Russia's actions in the nuclear deal negotiations.
28 Apr 2021
Tehran, Iran – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has warned against division sown by the country’s “enemies” after leaked audio revealed his top diplomat discussing internal power struggles, stirring up a political storm in the country.
More than three hours of what is said to be a seven-hour tape of foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaking about a variety of issues was released earlier this week by Iran International, a London-based Farsi-language media network funded by Saudi Arabia.
The president said during a televised cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the classified tape, part of an oral history project aimed at documenting his administration’s work, was “stolen” by elements that the intelligence ministry has been tasked with finding.
“It was leaked exactly when Vienna is at the height of its success,” Rouhani said in reference to ongoing talks in the Austrian capital to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that the United States abandoned in 2018.
“They want to create division inside the country. How can we succeed? How can we lift the sanctions? With unity and integrity.”
A JCPOA Joint Commission meeting was held between Iran, China, Russia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom on Tuesday, where representatives agreed to accelerate efforts aimed at lifting US sanctions and curbing Iran’s nuclear programme in compliance with the deal.
In the audiotape, among other things the diplomat talks about how at times diplomacy had to be “sacrificed” for what he refers to as “the field” – military operations and politics driven by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and specifically its outward-looking Quds Force that was led by Qassem Soleimani until his assassination by the US in January 2020.
Zarif also explained how Russia was against the JCPOA as it did not benefit from Iran normalising ties with the West, and how Russian President Vladimir Putin convinced Soleimani to increase Iranian ground presence in the civil war in Syria and flights to the country.
The foreign minister’s comment that he first heard from his then-counterpart John Kerry that Israel had conducted 200 air attacks against Iranian interests in Syria created a political storm in the US, with many Republicans calling for Kerry’s resignation for divulging sensitive information.
‘No duality’
Under pressure from conservatives, Zarif said on Wednesday he favours a “smart adjustment” between the military and diplomacy, in his first public reaction to the leaked tape.
Zarif posted a video earlier this week of him visiting the place where Soleimani was assassinated in Baghdad, and wrote that his comments were meant to be part of a “confidential theoretical discussion around the necessity of diplomacy and the field strengthening each other”.
Praising Soleimani for his character and trying to establish peace in Afghanistan and Iraq, in addition to fighting the ISIL (ISIS) armed group, Zarif said his comments must not be construed as personal criticism of the late general.
President Rouhani also said on Wednesday that “the field” and diplomacy go hand in hand, that Soleimani was a diplomat in addition to being a fighter, and that some of the things Zarif said were personal opinions, not his administration’s official stance.
Iran’s security chief Ali Shamkhani tweeted on Tuesday that “there is no duality” in implementing policies in the field and in diplomacy as they all stem from “definite principles of the Islamic Revolution” that birthed the current theocratic establishment in 1979.
Meanwhile, hardline opponents of the government have harshly criticised Zarif and underlined the administration’s failure to keep the tape secure.
Parliament Speaker Mohamad Bagher Ghalibaf tweeted a picture of Soleimani among fighters who were taking selfies with him, suggesting some are trying to use him “to achieve their political goals”.
Parliament’s national security commission has invited Zarif to explain his comments and has said it aims to find out who leaked the tape.
Hardline newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz dedicated its entire front page on Tuesday to the issue, writing “Wretched” on a half-blacked-out image of Zarif.
Ultraconservative Keyhan wrote that, in an attempt to save itself, the “pro-West” Rouhani administration “forced [Zarif] to commit suicide”.
