Extensive Changes in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Since the appointment of Manouchehr Mottaki as the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this ministry has undergone unprecedented changes. Back-to-back appointments and dismissals in this ministry and vacant seats of deputyships are not comparable with any post-revolution period. Foreign Ministry hadn’t passed through such changes even during the 8-year war with Iraq.

 

Recent changes are of two types. First are the ones that took place after the new government came to power and Manouchehr Mottaki became the Foreign Minister. Resignation and dismissal of reformist deputies from their position and replacing them with affiliates of the new government was inevitable. But the second type of changes relates to the incongruity of the new arrangement with the officials’ position. Both types of changes can be observed in the recent changes of the Foreign Ministry.

 

Resignations and replacements in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs started with dismissal of Hamid Reza Asefi, Spokesman of Ministry, and are going on yet.

 

On 19th of July 2006 Mr. Asefi said that he will resign from his post. He stated that he has been the spokesman of the Ministry for 8 years and this is not at all common anywhere; therefore he will leave his position to another person. Meanwhile he indicated that since he was too young, he didn’t intend to retire and would wait for his new office.

 

One month later, he was sent to UAE as the new ambassador. He resigned his post as the spokesman when -except for Ali Ahani, Iran’s ambassador to Paris- all his friends during the 8-year ministry of Kamal Kharrazi had resigned or retired, or had been removed from their executive position.

 

Next, with resignation of Dr. Ali Larijani; Saeed Jalili, Deputy Minister for European and America Affairs, replaced him as the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran. Larijani, who after directing IRIB and failure in presidential elections, had been appointed to this position with the advice of supreme officials and by the order of the President, had adopted a strategy of rational resistance against West.

 

Afterwards, Abbas Araqchi, Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs, was sent as ambassador to Tokyo. Mr. Araqchi was head of the Iranian delegation in the important Baghdad security meeting that was held in March 2007 and attended by neighbors of Iraq, United States, and Britain. As rumors circulated around the substitute for Mr. Araqchi, some members of Parliament’s Committee of National Security and Foreign Diplomacy talked about the Mottaki’s resignation and reshuffle in the cabinet.

 

In the course of extensive changes in the Foreign Ministry, Mahdi Mostafavi, acting director of the Ministry, resigned and started his new office as the head of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization.

 

Rumors on resignation of Alireza Sheikh Attar because of his disagreement with Manouchehr Mottaki were heard around September 2006. Sheikh Attar, who served as the Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs, was going to be appointed as Iran’s ambassador to Brussels. But unexpectedly, he became Mahdi Mostafavi’s successor as the acting director of the Ministry.

 

All these replacements, appointments and dismissals in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remind us of the never-ending stories of One Thousand and One Nights.

 

A few days ago, Mahdi Safari, former Deputy Minister for Asian and Pacific Affairs, was appointed as the Deputy Minister for European and America Affairs. Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Speaker of the Foreign Ministry, whilst keeping his current position, was appointed as the head of Asian and Pacific Affairs and the longtime vacant seat of Economic Deputyship was occupied by Mohsen Talaei. Talaei had previously been Iran’s ambassador to Tokyo and secretary of the Strategic Council of the Foreign Ministry. Due to his experience in economic affairs he seemed the best option for this position.

 

The question here is that will the recent substitutions in the Foreign Ministry improve our foreign policies or are they just aimed to bring this ministry into harmony with the current dominant policies?

 

While there are important issues such as the Caspian Sea, role of Iran in the region, security of neighbor countries –Iraq and Afghanistan- etc. aren’t these vast changes a sign of imbalance in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?