S1/E24: Former Foreign Minister Zarif on IRGC Dominance Over National Security Decision Making

Iran's Gambit

The Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s central national security decision-making body, remains one of the most secretive organizations in the Islamic Republic. Its proceedings are not public, and insights into its operations are mostly limited to references in the journals of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and scattered accounts from Iranian officials. Therefore, former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s book “The Audacity of Resilience,” published in Tehran in March, is a revelation. The book illuminates the SNSC process, documents interagency rivalry among Iran’s government bureaucracies, and highlights the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ dominance in national security decision making.