Foreign Minister Motaki is to Lose His Job Over Diplomat Defections

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has decided to sack his foreign minister, Manuchehr Motaki, following a wave of defections of Iranian diplomats throughout Europe, and what have been described by senior members of the regime as major disagreements that have recently surfaced between the two.

Close associates of the President said that he was furious after learning that foreign minister Motaki's violent criticism of Ahmadinejad had been one of the factors that had encouraged the diplomats to defect, and he swore that Motaki would pay dearly.

According to Ahmadinejad's close circle, the Foreign Minister had in recent weeks loudly crrticized the President and lashed out against Ahmadinejad's steps to appoint IRGC officers to senior positions in his office. He complained to senior officials in his office about interference in professional affairs which fell under his authority, which in his opinion was blatantly disregarding the country's interests. Motaki thinks that trained diplomats should be the ones representing Iran, rather than IRGC veterans, lacking any diplomatic experience.

Motaki mocked appointments Ahmadinejad made of special regional counselors, doubting the ability of IRGC men to further the objectives of the Foreign Ministry. In heated conversations held with colleagues, including discussions behind closed doors, he complained about his helplessness in the current situation to promote skilled diplomats returning from postings abroad.

Iranian diplomats, who had not yet defected, said that Motaki's comments on his President's dreadful appointments to the foreign service had swiftly spread through the ranks of the organization. The president appointed special representatives to act as his envoys for regional matters, which has already generated public criticism from foreign office officials.

Diplomats have expressed anger that this unacceptable favoritism behind Ahmadinejad's recent appointments was making it even more difficult for them to represent their country. Their country's image was already tainted in the eyes of the world, as a result of the riots following the elections and the serious violations of human rights since then, which were publicized in great detail throughout the world. These events, too, were poorly handled by the IRGC.

The two most recent defections (last week's defection of Hossein Alizadeh from the Consulate in Finland and this week's defection of Farzad Farhangian, press attache in Belgium), were the straw that broke the camel's back, as far as Ahmadinejad is concerned. These well-publicized defections were preceded by the defection of the Iranian Consul in Norway, Mohammad Reza Haidari, earlier this year, and the previous defection of an Iranian diplomat in Japan, Abolfazl Eslami, who resigned following the riots that broke out after the presidential elections in 2009.

Ahmadinejad, who was updated by the IRGC's (fairly new) intelligence body of Motaki's harsh condemnation of his actions, claimed that he would go so far as to take steps to have Motaki brought to trial. However, the blatant political enmity between him and the Larijani brothers, and Motaki's close personal ties with Parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, would make it difficult for him to pursue this path.

Relations between the President and the Foreign Minister have been shaky right from the start, both because of Motaki's close relations with Larijani, and because of personal and professional differences of opinion between them.

Ahmadinejad only appointed Motaki because the Leader himself insisted on it. The President has tried on more than one occasion to seek the Leader's permission to replace the Foreign Minister on various pretexts, but so far, these efforts have been met with refusal. It has now reached a point, however, when Ahmadinejad is no longer willing to put up with the situation, especially given the information he received.

In the background are reports circulated in the media over the past few days (Jahan News, Rah-e-Sabz), claiming that Ahmadinejad is considering to replace Motaki himself. Various names have come up as potential successors for Motaki, including the secretary of the National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, and a close adviser of the President, Samareh Hashemi. According to those close to Ahmadinejad, his own personal preference would be Jalili. An appointment of this nature could be expected to have immediate implications for international negotiations on the nuclear issue.

Iran's foreign service is currently undergoing a major upheaval. It has been becoming increasingly clear in the past few days that the government lacks effective tools to prevent the drift of its diplomats-supposedly its most loyal servants-who were until recently considered ardent supporters of the revolution, outside the boundaries of the foreign service and Iran itself. Judging from the current mood prevalent in the Foreign Office, if Ahmadinejad follows his agenda and continues to appoint his own men to foreign service positions, the trickle of defections may well turn into a flood.