The regime’s internal rift has now reached the very office on which the entire system rests. In a televised program— something once unthinkable — even the authority of the Supreme Leader was openly called into question. https://t.co/L5sGY8fPAp — NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 16, 2026Shahriari insisted the Foreign Minister was the leader’s personal pick: “Mr. Araghchi was chosen by the Leader himself, and the next day Mr. Araghchi told me the Leader had summoned him.” Recalling nuclear diplomacy in Europe, he let slip who guarded the Foreign Minister: Zarif’s detail “were Revolutionary Guard boys who did not share his views,” listening at the door until two in the morning.