London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Former Iranian diplomats criticize Tehran’s foreign policy

Former Iranian diplomats criticize Tehran’s foreign policy

Senior former Iranian diplomats have slammed Tehran for failing to revive the nuclear deal and supplying drones to Russia in Ukraine, warning that the country risks becoming economically weakened and isolated.
Hamid Aboutalebi, a former political adviser to Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s previous president, tweeted on Monday that “Iranian foreign policy has been captured by extremists.”

Meanwhile, Seyyid Mohammad Sadr, the former head of the foreign affairs ministry’s Europe division, told the Etemaad newspaper that the government had squandered “a golden opportunity” to revive the nuclear deal, The Guardian reported. 

Sadr explained that opposition to reviving the nuclear deal came from three sources: some security forces, those who benefit from Western sanctions, and those who lacked an understanding of foreign policy and international relations. 

Sadr, who is still a serving member of the Expediency Council, the main advisory body to the supreme leader, also warned Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi that if the issues blocking the deal were left unresolved, “all the economic pressures would be on his government’s shoulders.”

In addition, the former diplomat suggested that Iran had abandoned its neutrality in Ukraine, exposing the country to American allegations of war crimes by supplying drones to be used against Ukrainian civilians, The Guardian reported. 

He predicted that the country would become increasingly isolated, in part because of the executions of protesters, and added that its diplomats could be expelled from some EU nations.

Jalal Sadatian, who served as a senior diplomat in the UK in the 1980s, told The Guardian “a way must be found to answer the current human rights issues so that a meeting can be held again to revive the (the Iran nuclear talks) and reach an understanding. Europeans don’t act based on emotions, and if some of their interests are secured, they may adjust their approach.”

In November, 36 retired diplomats issued a joint statement claiming that grave errors in Iran’s foreign policy were having negative repercussions on the country’s internal stability, The Guardian reported. The statement also expressed concern for Iran’s moral standing if it engaged in the risky game of supplying Russia with weapons.

Nosratollah Tajik, one of the signatories and the former ambassador to Jordan, warned, “Becoming a belligerent in the Russia-Ukraine war will cause the economic situation of Iran to collapse, create more public dissatisfaction and challenge the government’s authority to solve political, social and economic problems,” The Guardian reported.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has shown his support for Moscow, saying that “if Russia hadn’t sent troops into Ukraine, it would have faced an attack from Nato later.”

The foreign ministry has acknowledged supplying Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used them to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×