Rouhani says Zarif leak aimed to create 'discord' during Iran nuclear talks

Iran's president said on Wednesday the leak of an audio recording of his top diplomat was aimed at creating "discord" in the Islamic republic during talks aimed at reviving a nuclear deal with world powers.

"It was published right when the Vienna (talks) were at the height of their success, so that it creates discord inside" Iran, Hassan Rouhani told a meeting of his cabinet in televised remarks.

Iran's Foreign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarifsaid on Wednesday heregretted that the leak had triggered "domestic infighting," amid a furious reaction from conservative figures and media outlets.

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"I was very sorry that a secret theoretical talk regarding the need for synergy between diplomacy and the (military) field ... turns into domestic infighting,"Iran's top diplomat said on his Instagram account.

"Honest and passionate" argument in a private setting had been misconstrued as "personal criticism," he wrote.

But Zarif also appeared to stick by the core argument that he made in the leaked audio.

He saidthe "main point" of his remarks in the audio,in which he says the military has too much influence on diplomacy, is emphasising "the need for a smart adjustment of the relationship between" diplomacy and the military.

Zarif also said he saw a need for "setting priorities through legal structures and under the great purview of the supreme leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has ordered a probe to identify who leaked the "stolen" three-hour recording.

His moderate government has sought to downplay the remarks, which were leaked ahead of the June elections and asIranand world powers discuss ways to revive a 2015 nuclear accord.

"In the Islamic republic the military field rules," Zarif said in the audio tape, published by several media outlets outsideIranon Sunday. "I have sacrified diplomacy for the military field rather than the field servicing diplomacy".

Leader of the Guards’ clandestine overseas Quds Force, Soleimani was a pivotal figure who built upIran’s network of proxy armies across the Middle East. He was killed in a USdrone attack in Iraq last year.

Iranretaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where USforces were stationed. Hours later,Iranian forces shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran. Days later,Iran's Guards admitted that the plane had been shot "mistakenly".

"I have had the honour of deep friendship and cooperation with haj Qasem (Soleimani) for more than two decades," he wrote, noting that he has repeatedly reminded the world of Soleimani's "humanity, peacefulness and courage".

He also defended his track record by stressing that he has "always followed the country's internally agreed policies and strongly defended them".

"Safeguarding the country's interests and... (those of) the patient and valiant people ofIranis an oath I will stand by until the last moment," Zarif pledged.

"But I have considered appeasement and self-censorship in expert opinion to be a betrayal," he added.

Relations between pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani's government and the Guards are important because the influence of the hardline paramilitary force is so great that it can disrupt any rapprochement with the West if it feels this would endanger its economic and political interests.

The Guard's traditional scepticism about any cultivation of detente with Washington may become relevant if talks betweenIranand world powers advance efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by President Donald Trump three years ago.

Although Zarif said he had no intention of running inIran's June 18 presidential election, some critics said Zarif's comments were aimed at gaining votes fromIranians disillusioned by a stalled economy and lack of political and social freedoms.

His name has been suggested by prominent moderates as a possible candidate for the election, in which several prominent commanders of the Guards are also running for the top executive post.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was set up after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi'ite clerical ruling system and revolutionary values. It answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

(With inputs from agencies)