Former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif delivered what many observers called his weakest performance to date at the Doha Forum 2025. 

In a display that startled even some of his regional sympathizers, Zarif tried to argue that Iran supports its terror proxies “for their own causes,” not for Tehran’s strategic interests. 

He went further, declaring that Iran — not any Arab country — is the “only real supporter of Palestine,” and even claimed he is the only official ever sanctioned by the US “because of Palestine,” while insisting no Arab official had been sanctioned for that reason.