LONDON: Iranian president Ali Rouhani clashed recently with General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Quds Brigade, over the Republican guard’s budget, according to Iranian media reports.
An Iranian paper quoted by Al-Arabiya said that the verbal clash between the two leaders took place at a Eid Al-Fitr reception in Tehran.
Solaimani is reported to have warned the president from reducing the Revolutionary Guard’s budget, but Rouhani apparently responded angrily according to the Iranian sources.
The confrontation between the two leaders was such that it necessitated the intervention of the head of the Iranian National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, who reconciled the two.
Iranian leadership disagreement about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s role, cost of operation and interventions in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen have risen to the surface recently.
The tensions come after the US renewed its pressure on Tehran questioning its role in the region and its tacit support for terrorism.
The US representative at the UN, Nikki Haley, has recently revealed that Iran spends over $6 billion annually to keep the Assad regime in Syria afloat, in addition to a million more to support allied militia like the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
