Iran lawmaker rejects claims of split between military, diplomacy

A member of Iran’s Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has dismissed suggestions of a divide between the country’s military and diplomatic leadership, insisting that both operate under the authority of the Islamic Republic’s top command, Iran International reports.

Mansour Haghighatpour said speculation about disagreements between military officials and diplomats reflected the hopes of Western countries rather than the reality of decision-making in Iran.

“Both Majid the precision-striker (IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brigadier General Majid Mousavi) and Mohammad-Bagher the negotiator (Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf) take orders from one commander named Mojtaba Khamenei,” Haghighatpour said.

“So in response to the West’s wish to hear the sound of discord and division among the system’s officials and functionaries, one must say: dream on.”

The lawmaker argued that Iran’s military and diplomatic institutions function in close coordination and pursue the same strategic objectives under a unified chain of command.

Haghighatpour pointed to the Foreign Ministry’s support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) military operation conducted on Sunday night as evidence of cooperation between the country’s diplomatic and military branches.

According to the parliamentarian, the public backing of the operation by Iranian diplomats demonstrated that the two spheres were acting in concert rather than at odds with one another.

He further described military action and diplomacy as complementary components of the Islamic Republic’s broader strategy.

“The battlefield and diplomacy are two wings” of the system, Haghighatpour said, adding that both operate under the direction of the commander-in-chief.

By Vafa Guliyeva