Former Iranian President Hasan Rouhani revealed the circumstances surrounding a "tension-easing" meeting with five of the senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard, two weeks before the start of his second term in early August 2017, following the defeat of the current president, Ebrahim Raisi, in his first electoral test.

Rouhani's official website quoted him telling a group of journalists that his meeting with the Revolutionary Guard commanders was "for peace and affection after the elections. They came to say, 'since you are elected, we will stand by you and want to work together.'"

Rouhani highlighted that the former head of the Revolutionary Guard's foreign operations, Qasem Soleimani, requested him at the end of the meeting to appoint a defense minister from among the Revolutionary Guard officers.

However, Rouhani, a month after the meeting, nominated Brigadier Amir Hatami, an officer from the Iranian army, as the defense minister, sidelining his first defense minister, Hossein Dehghan, who was from the Revolutionary Guard officers. It was the first time the Iranian President appointed an army commander as defense minister since the merging of the "Ministry of the Revolutionary Guards" with the Ministry of Defense in 1989.

Rouhani's statements confirm varying reports regarding Dehghan's continuation or exit from the ministerial lineup. The Iranian President wanted to pass the position to an army commander.

Rouhani said he chose his entire ministerial team after consulting with the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It is known that the President is obligated to get prior approval from the Supreme Leader to appoint five ministers: the ministers of Defense, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and Culture and Islamic Guidance.

Rouhani's account of the famous meeting, around which varied narratives and speculations emerged, especially since it came after tensions between the former president and the Revolutionary Guard commanders peaked at the crucial juncture between signing the nuclear deal in the summer of 2015 and the 2017 Iranian presidential elections, which saw Rouhani defeating the then Revolutionary Guard-supported candidate, the current president Ebrahim Raisi.

Rouhani's website mentioned that remarks to a group of editors from the reformist newspaper “Etemad,” dating back to mid-February before the "Assembly of Experts" elections the body responsible for appointing the Supreme Leader's successor from which Rouhani was excluded after 24 years of council membership. The "Assembly of Experts" elections coincided with the legislative elections.

This new narrative on the tense relationship between the Guard and the former government comes days after the publication of the book by the former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif titled "The Depth of Patience." Zarif revealed that neither he nor President Hasan Rouhani was informed about the attack on the "Ain al-Assad" base, while the former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and American leaders received messages from Tehran regarding intentions to strike American forces with ballistic missiles.

"Tension-Easing"

Rouhani's account of the controversial meeting with the Revolutionary Guard commanders adds to other conflicting narratives reported by officials close to Rouhani himself.

The meeting was attended by the former commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Ali Jafari; the commander of the Quds Force, the Guard's foreign arm, Qasem Soleimani; the commander of the Guard's missile unit, Amir Ali Hajizadeh; the former commander of the Basij militia, Gholamhossein Gheybparvar; and the former commander of the "Tharallah" unit, responsible for the security of Tehran in times of crisis, Esmaeil Kothari, a current deputy in the Parliament, who was re-elected for the upcoming Parliament.

Official statements described the meeting's atmosphere as "friendly" without disclosing the details of what transpired. During the meeting, Rouhani urged the five leaders to "maintain unity and cohesion among all the forces and apparatus of the regime to act according to the Supreme Leader's recommendations."

Rouhani's tenure witnessed strained relations between his administration and the country's most influential apparatus, which possesses parallel units to the army, economic arms, a parallel intelligence ministry, and its foreign arm, the Quds Force, plays a supervisory and executive role in foreign policy, especially regional policy.

Tensions reached their climax during the 2017 presidential elections when Rouhani described the Revolutionary Guard as "the government with a gun," stating that he leads a government "without a gun," criticizing, in particular, the Revolutionary Guard's missile activities a few months after signing the nuclear deal in July 2015 and its implementation in mid-January 2016.

Rouhani also criticized the Guard's role in the media during his election campaign and the support they provided to his opponent, Ebrahim Raisi, at the time.

A leaked audio recording of the former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in March 2021 underscored the depth of tension between the previous government and the Revolutionary Guard commanders, especially Qasem Soleimani. Zarif accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of seeking to sabotage the nuclear deal by inviting Soleimani to visit the Kremlin to convince him to expand operations in Syria. Zarif regretted that "diplomacy" sacrifices its regional policy for "the field," referring to the Revolutionary Guard's regional activities.

Zarif challenged the Revolutionary Guard's media narrative on "Soleimani's success" in convincing Putin to enter the Syrian war, explaining it was "a premeditated plan" by Putin to overturn the nuclear deal when he invited Soleimani to Moscow. Putin had visited Tehran on November 23, 2015, and met Khamenei.

Contrary Narratives

Except for Soleimani, who was killed in an American strike about three and a half years after the meeting, the Guard commanders presented their accounts of the meeting, the details of which were kept secret for days, though many connected it to the verbal war between Rouhani and the Revolutionary Guard commanders.

Days after the meeting, the "Kayhan" newspaper reported in late July 2017 that the main focus was on criticizing the performance and positions of the government in the field of security and defense of the fundamental values ​​of the revolution, indicating that the leaders asked Rouhani to prevent the emergence of literatures different from the revolution's literature.

Regarding the discussion of the economic situation and the ministerial lineup, the newspaper claimed that "Guard commanders do not consider entering these areas as part of their duties. They do not think about what concerns the President's powers."

Hours after the publication of Kayhan's account, the "Basij" chief, Gholamhossein Gheybparvar who attended the meeting, said that "the atmosphere was friendly," that "the Guard group sees Rouhani as the lawful president of the country" and quoted Rouhani as saying: "It is not planned that the performance with statements opposes the interest of the regime which is headed by the Supreme Leader."

Another account came from General Esmaeil Kothari, who later returned to parliament. Kothari in a television interview said that "the meeting was frank," explaining that both sides aired their criticisms, but he said: "Certainly, the meeting was friendly to prevent those outside the borders from misusing the situation."

For his part, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said: The concerns raised in the meeting were troubling the Guard commanders. It was a special situation in the elections. In our opinion, many who are keen on the system, felt resentful of the atmosphere, it was necessary to take such a step for unity and to prevent widening the gap between the revolutionary forces." He added: "Of course, it was a serious discussion, but welcoming because the goal was sincere and loyal."

Following Ahmadinejad's Path

But the most explicit narrative came on the second anniversary of Soleimani's killing, from the commander of the Revolutionary Guard's missile unit, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who said in an interview published by the "Kayhan" newspaper that Soleimani and the Guard commanders issued a stern warning to Rouhani in the meeting about his differing positions from the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

According to Hajizadeh's account: "Soleimani told Rouhani that defending the revolution, the system, and the leader is a red line for us, and you should not think that you can always smear us, and we will remain silent."

Hajizadeh addressed questions about Soleimani supporting the nuclear deal, saying: "If that were the case; then why did Zarif say in the audio recording that he caused damage to diplomacy? The leader of the diplomatic apparatus says he harmed us."

Hajizadeh said, "The Supreme Leader said something, and the following week Rouhani took a stance and smeared (the Revolutionary Guard). He was attacking the interior every day. Our meeting's message was to inform Rouhani that we are helping him;" indicating that Soleimani asked Rouhani "whether he wants to continue Ahmadinejad's path, or wants to become like him."