Former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a leaked message the United Arab Emirates is equal to Israel and Tehran must focus on attacking the UAE while striking US and Israeli interests, according to screenshots of his remarks in a private Telegram group.
In the messages attributed to Zarif, the former top diplomat outlined a series of proposals related to Iran’s confrontation with the United States and Israel, including military pressure, diplomatic steps and measures he said could help stabilize the situation.
Zarif wrote that Iran should focus on striking “American and Israeli targets,” including US naval vessels and what he described as vital interests linked to Israel.
"We should focus on destroying the bridge between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in order to create real deterrence against mischief in the islands, and on striking the UAE (despite all the damage it might cause Iran)."
"The UAE and Israel are one and the same," he said.
The remarks also included a recommendation that Iran avoid attacks across the wider region “as much as possible,” while concentrating on specific targets that he said would have strategic impact.
Alongside military proposals, Zarif also suggested diplomatic and political steps. He wrote that mediation proposals should not be rejected and that Washington should be given an opportunity for what he described as an “honorable exit.”
He added that, despite his personal discomfort in saying so, the only move that might calm Trump would be an official declaration ending the “47-year hostility” between Iran and the United States and its allies.
Zarif wrote that US President Donald Trump “does not have the patience for long and technical plans” and that symbolic gestures might be more effective.
"To prevent war, I proposed several symbolic steps aimed at giving Trump a sense of victory, accompanied by a text that was very dignified for Iran. However, it was not even reviewed, and no explanation was requested."
He criticized what he described as a lack of engagement from incumbent Iranian officials, saying that since the start of the war he had not received any calls from his former colleagues at the foreign ministry regarding his proposals.
From Chinese fortune teller to quantum effect
Zarif, a US-educated university professor in Tehran, also mixed religious appeals with conspiracy claims, suggesting that prayers and repeated calls to prayer could help defeat what he called the “satanic schemes” of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Without joking, we should pray for the realization of the prediction that Trump will be defeated (as foretold by a Chinese fortune teller). Belief in God’s support has a situational (quantum) effect."
"At the suggestion of one of the saints, the call to prayer should be recited repeatedly so that the satanic schemes of Trump and Netanyahu — which, according to him, began by sacrificing 200 little girls (in the Epstein method) to achieve their evil goals — may be nullified," he said.
In the same message, Zarif emphasized the importance of public opinion inside Iran, urging officials to avoid actions that would anger different segments of society.
“We must win the people’s hearts through action, not words,” he wrote, adding that authorities should avoid provoking the public to satisfy the demands of a particular group.
“The Iranian terrorist regime has attacked 12 different countries and continues to deliberately target civilians throughout the Middle East," US CENTCOM chief Admiral Brad Cooper said in a statement on Friday.
"Last night, Iranian forces fired seven attack drones at civilian, residential neighborhoods in Bahrain. This is unacceptable and will not go unanswered. We will continue working with regional partners to address this threat to innocent people across the region.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz told Eye for Iran podcast this week that the US-Israel military campaign aims to remove the Islamic Republic from power.
President Massoud Pezeshkian is facing growing criticism from political figures and analysts for failing to seize what some viewed as a rare opportunity to de-escalate the regional conflict while repairing the state’s broken relationship with Iranians.
The situation grew more complicated after US President Donald Trump publicly signaled a desire to influence Iran’s leadership transition and the future structure of the regime.
The pressure mounted further when lawmaker Mohsen Zanganeh said Friday that “senior clerics in the Assembly of Experts have nominated two clerics for Iran’s next leadership, but both have declined the position.”
Amid mounting reports of disagreement and deadlock, the Expediency Discernment Council moved to suspend the Assembly of Experts—the body constitutionally responsible for selecting the supreme leader—and shift authority to a provisional leadership structure.
Under Article 111 of Iran’s constitution, that shift elevated Pezeshkian, as head of the Provisional Leadership Council, to a position granting him many of the powers of the supreme leader, including command of the armed forces.
Critics say he has so far refrained from intervening decisively in major state affairs and has instead focused on secondary issues, including preparations for local elections scheduled for May.
“Today Pezeshkian is simultaneously the president, head of the leadership council, and the commander-in-chief,” former transport minister Abbas Akhundi wrote on X. “He must step into the field and declare: everyone is under my command.”
Akhundi argued the succession debate itself is ill-timed. “Any action that diverts attention from the war … is playing into Israel’s hands,” he added. “Becoming preoccupied with succession at a time of war is a harmful distraction.”
Wartime power centers
The Revolutionary Guards remain central to both the war effort and domestic politics. While engaged in a widening regional confrontation, the IRGC has also been deeply involved in the succession debate.
Reports indicate it has strongly backed Mojtaba Khamenei despite constitutional sensitivities and resistance from parts of the clerical establishment.
The sidelining of the Assembly of Experts underscores institutional divisions. Some clerics argue that naming a successor during wartime risks deepening fractures, while others insist a swift decision is necessary to project unity and control.
The Expediency Discernment Council has played a decisive role by affirming the authority of the provisional leadership structure, signaling that the succession question has reached a level of internal dispute requiring extraordinary intervention.
Security chief Ali Larijani has also reportedly intervened in the deliberations to promote his brother Sadeq Larijani as a candidate for supreme leader.
Sadeq Larijani was once head of judiciary and now heads the Expediency Council, where he can in theory slow the succession process and complicate the IRGC’s push for Mojtaba Khamenei.
For now, uncertainty over succession and authority continues to shape Iran’s wartime politics, with key figures—including Mojtaba Khamenei, senior IRGC leaders and Ali Larijani—remaining largely silent in public.
US President Donald Trump told CNN he was open to having another religious leader in Iran.
“Well I may be yeah, I mean, it depends on who the person is. I don’t mind religious leaders. I deal with a lot of religious leaders and they are fantastic,” he said.
He said “Iran is not the same country it was a week ago. A week ago they were powerful, and now they’ve been indeed neutered.”
Asked if he is insisting there needs to be a democratic state, Trump said, “No, I’m saying there has to be a leader that’s going be fair and just. Do a great job. Treat the United States and Israel well, and treat the other countries in the Middle East — they’re all our partners.”