AFP reports that Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif was interrogated by Iran’s political and religious leaders on the radio, who opposed his more moderate direction in Iran’s foreign policy. They accused of him of having a “reactionary stance towards the bastard (Israeli) Zionist regime and the Holocaust,” but Zarif  said that as long as he is foreign minister, he will damage Iran’s reputation by endorsing “Holocaust denial,” and also told his “scathing critics” that his diplomatic approach had “stolen Israel’s thunder.”

He noted that after years of ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s constant harangues and rhetoric against the Holocaust and destruction of Israel, Iran was no longer perceived as a danger over its nuclear ambitions.  “We shall not allow the Zionist regime — who is illegally in possession of chemical and nuclear weapons and is the biggest violator of non-proliferation laws — to portray Iran as a danger,” Zarif said. “…My colleagues and I are telling the world Iran is opposed to antisemitism and genocide,” he said and their new approach has led to the international isolation of Israel.

“The government’s foreign policy has taken away peace and comfort from Netanyahu and has isolated him internationally and this is a great victory that all the resistance forces of the region have each appreciated us for,” he said, according to interpreter from the Iranian news agency, FARS. When they were done grilling Zarif, they said they were satisfied with his answers. The ultra-conservative leaders are looking to increase hardline pressure on Rouhani. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme religious leader who has final approval on Iran’s military and political policies, is a Holocaust denier.