Critics Lash Out At Iran's Ideological Foreign Policy
An ultraconservative supporter of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has criticized his foreign policy for lack of agility, as the country faces more isolation.
An ultraconservative supporter of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has criticized his foreign policy for lack of agility, as the country faces more isolation.
Former lawmaker Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini added in an interview with Nameh News website in Tehran that Iran's foreign policy is passive and lacks dynamism. He stressed that the foreign ministry is absent in the Persian Gulf area. “There are many potentials for cooperation in this region, but the Iranian foreign ministry lacks the agility and dynamism to get positively involved in the region."
There are key reasons why Tehran suffers from a sense of isolation. Long negotiations with the West to revive the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA were suspended in September as Iran presented demands, which Washington rejected. This was followed by Tehran’s brutal suppression of protests and evidence that it was supplying kamikaze drones to Russia used against Ukraine. The West, and especially Europe, have reacted with disdain and adopted new sanctions against Tehran.
At the same time, Iran’s financial situation has deteriorated after years of US sanctions and its currency has dropped to unprecedented lows. All these have led to a mood of pessimism among regime insiders, and no prospect of a quick remedy.
Naghavi-Hosseini said in the interview that the ongoing protests in Iran have adversely affected the West's willingness to continue nuclear negotiations with Iran as social media activists portrayed Iran's situation in a way that the Islamic Republic is on the verge of collapse and the West should wait for the establishment of a new regime before resuming the talks.
Nevertheless, he claimed that "although Westerners are currently not keen to continue the talks, in fact, they need the JCPOA, and they have to come to terms with Iran in the long run."
According to Nameh News, Raisi who came to power with promises of reviving the JCPOA, advancing the economy despite sanctions, implementing closer ties with China and Russia, and improving Iran's relations with its neighbors, has accomplished none of these in 18 months.
The Western parties in the JCPOA, the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany say reviving the nuclear deal is not their focus now, meaning that US sanctions will continue.
China's President Xi Jinping signed a statement during a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, supporting Arab claims to three islands in the Persian Gulf, putting in doubt Tehran's 25-year cooperation contract with Beijing, and most recently Iraqi officials have been using the term Arabian Gulf rather than Persian Gulf to undermine Iran's long-standing characterization of the waterway.
In another development, international relations expert Mehdi Motaharnia told Rouydad24 website that the Iranian government is duty-bound to continue its "revolutionary" rhetoric and cannot make an agreement with America."
He said although Iranian and US officials use the same words such as "mutual respect, obligations, and commitments," when talking about the JCPOA, what they mean by these words are different. At the same time, both of them accuse each other of "government-sponsored terrorism."
"While the United States' rhetoric is based on liberal democracy and capitalism, the Islamic Republic of Iran's rhetoric is based on the ideology of Shiite Islam," Motaharnia said. At times both of them talk about returning to the JCPOA, but what they mean are two different things. This difference existed since 2015 when the nuclear deal was made.
"In other words, the United States is aware that the Islamic Republic will never give up the ideological aspect of its foreign policy," Motaharnia added.
Naghavi-Hosseini added that at the same "Iran is seriously following an approach to strengthen its ties with China and Russia, despite some hiccups.
Reformist newspaper Shargh wrote in a January 10 article that Expediency Council members have also become critical of the Raisi administration's inability to prepare the country's annual budget bill and the related 5-year development plan, as well as rising inflation and the devaluation of Iran's national currency.
Shargh further asked whether the conservatives are going to lose their patience in the face of the government's indecision and inaction while the country's worst economic crisis continues with an ever-increasing momentum.
At the same time, “poverty has been spreading” to large parts of the Iranian society while the government has not introduced any plan to support the low-income strata and prevent further shrinking of Iran's middle class, the daily wrote.
Conservative economist and a member of the Expediency Council Ahmad Tavakoli has recently warned the Raisi administration and Iran's conservative-dominated parliament: You may not be too far from the day when the poor pour into the streets and put an end to the current situation." He further warned: "Please do not do something that might lead to a revolt by the poor."
Tavakoli also criticized members of Iran's parliament for approving or rejecting economic issues including the bill about capital gains tax without having read at least two pages about the matter.
Meanwhile, another member of the Expediency Council, Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghaddam, who is also a member of the right-wing Militant Clerics Association, said in an interview with Khabar Online: "The structural problem of Iran's economy is that we do not produce wealth. We simply distribute the resources. People see the situation in other countries…about better living standards."
Mesbahi added: "Iranians need to spend more money than they earn and the Iranian government's expenses are more than its revenues. As a result, both Iranian families and the Iranian government have to constantly borrow money to make ends meet."
He said, "Unfortunately the Iranian government lacks a strategic vision and does not have the right people to pursue a strategy. Raisi used to say during the 2021 presidential election that he has a 7000-page economic plan on his desk. I asked him to show me the plan, but he did not have anything. I offered him some suggestions, but he insisted on his opposition to the FATF saying that it will give the United States more pretext for sanctioning Iran."
The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-state watchdog has blacklisted Iran’s banking for lack of adherence to anti-terror financing rules and money laundering.
Mesbahi also criticized the government for not having a long-term plan and thus furthering its business on a day-to-day basis.
In yet another development, hardliner Students of Amir Kabir University in Tehran harshly criticized Raisi's justification for rising prices in Iran. They told him they expect him to have an effective hand to do things rather than a tongue to justify everything by words.
Hardliner cleric Naser Makarem Shirazi also criticized Raisi's economic policies. He said: "It is regrettable that the officials not only do not solve economic problems such as rial’s steep fall, but they tend to totally ignore the problem."
Meanwhile, conservative commentator Naser Imani has said recently: "Government officials have still not realized the country's situation and therefore, they cannot offer any solution for the problems. Their best defense often is to say that there is nothing wrong with their performance and it is the enemy who creates all the problems." However, Imani shied away from saying that two of those who always attribute Iran's problems to foreigners' conspiracies are Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi.