Iran To Pull 40 Diplomats From Around the World
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s government announced yesterday that 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats, including supporters of warmer ties with the West, will be fired, continuing a purge of reformers as the regime takes an increasingly tough stance at home and abroad.
The diplomatic changes are part of a government shake-up by ultraconservative President Ahmadinejad that includes putting Islamic hard-liners in key posts at security agencies. Some Iranians think that the president will bring back strict social policies.
Mr. Ahmadinejad has steered the Persian state into a more confrontational stance in its dealings with other nations, particularly in facing suspicions about whether Iran’s nuclear program is illicitly trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge the regime denies.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced the diplomatic shuffle to parliament. He said that “the missions of more than 40 ambassadors and heads of Iranian diplomatic missions abroad will expire by the end of the year,” which is March 20 under the Iranian calendar.
Mr. Mottaki, whose announcement was reported by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, did not specify which ambassadors were being removed.
IRNA, however, said they include Iran’s ambassador to Britain, Mohammad Hossein Adeli, a leading member of the pragmatic foreign policy wing that supports improved contacts with Europe and other countries.
Officials at the Foreign Ministry also said the ambassadors to France, Germany, and Malaysia – all with links to moderates – would be fired. The officials agreed to discuss the firings only on condition of anonymity, because they are not authorized to speak to journalists.
Mr. Mottaki said Iran’s envoy to the United Nations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is known for his pragmatic approach, would keep his post. Mr. Zarif, however, previously was removed from Iran’s nuclear negotiating team.
Iran’s top security decision-making body, the Supreme National Security Council, which oversees the nuclear talks, also has been caught up in government overhaul. Among the new members is a former commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Jafari.
Mr. Ahmadinejad also has appointed hard-liners to senior Interior Ministry posts and replaced most of Iran’s provincial governors during the past month.
Tensions with Europe and America are high after Mr. Ahmadinejad’s regime resumed the conversion of uranium into gas. That is the final step before enrichment, which produces radioactive material that is usable both as reactor fuel and for atomic bombs.
The board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, meets November 24 to review Iran’s cooperation on the nuclear issue. To show it is cooperating with the IAEA, Iran let U.N. inspectors last week look for signs of a secret nuclear arms program at Parchin, a high security military site, diplomats close to the IAEA said yesterday.
But at the same time, the regime also takes a harsh tone about the West.
Yesterday, more than 10,000 demonstrators shouted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” in front of the former American Embassy.