Former Iranian presidents want change and blame extremists for crises

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Two of Iran’s former presidents, Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, have pointed to Iran’s missed opportunities in foreign policy, blaming extremist conservatives.

Referring to Iran’s rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, Rouhani said in a recent meeting with his aides: “It’s good that everyone in Iran has understood that you can’t write slogans on missiles, burning down embassies and creating unrest”.

Rouhani was referring to the behavior of the IRGC following the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with the West when they wrote “Death to Israel” on the missiles they tested, and the behavior of conservative-led vigilantes during of an arson attack on the Saudi Embassy in January 2016 that led to the severing of ties between Tehran and Riyadh for seven years.

The Obama administration entered into the JCPOA agreement in hopes of restricting Iran’s nuclear program and opening the door to more moderate diplomatic interaction.

The nuclear deal was struck during Rouhanis’ tenure (2013-2021), who was seen as a pragmatist and moderate compared to many other regime insiders.

But the permission to do the deal and the extremist behavior of the extremists was tolerated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The first was to lift international sanctions, and the second was to continue its anti-Western and anti-Israel policy.

At the same time, referring to the resumption of relations with Saudi Arabia and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s recent statement on cooperation with the IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rouhani hailed ” the agreements with the IAEA and Saudi Arabia”.

Former President Hassan Rouhani with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who negotiated the JCPOA

Speaking on domestic politics and the political stalemate created by extremists limiting voters’ choices in legislative and presidential elections, Rouhani said, “What determines the fate of the country is the vote of the people. Everyone in this country recognizes the power of votes. Without the vote of the people, we cannot solve any problem.”

He added that the population of Iran is 85 million and the government should stop catering to only three million of them.

Rouhani was referring to minority rule following the consolidation of political power by conservatives after the 2020 legislative elections and the 2021 presidential election in which reformist and moderate candidates were banned from running.

Rouhani said: “Five months have passed since the protests in Iran. What have we done in these five months? It is not enough for the streets to be quiet. We must seek solutions to social problems to avoid further unrest. .” Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the political situation cannot be fixed overnight as structural changes are needed to make people happy.

Meanwhile, in a message to the National Development Party congress, former reformist President Mohammad Khatami also pointed to much the same issues. Echoing Rouhani, Khatami said, “If the nuclear deal had been revived two years ago, we would have benefited substantially. Nevertheless, anything that can improve the situation a little is desirable.

Meanwhile, he called on the government to respect the opinions and votes of the people and their right to determine their fate. Khatami said in his message that “there is more fear and worry than hope in Iranian society today.” Like Rouhani, Khatami also said that “the people need hope, they need to see an improvement in their political and financial situation.”

He said the government’s new approach to foreign policy, manifested in the resumption of relations with Saudi Arabia, was an example of what needed to be done to bring about positive change in Iran.

Some Iranian political observers, including Abolfazl Hassanbeigi, an Iran-Iraq war veteran and former populist MP, said on a local website that the situation was ripe for a rapprochement with the West, adding that US President Joe Biden had need a win. smart for his re-election campaign, even a short-term deal with Iran.

Hassanbeigi believed that such a short-term and limited agreement would be mutually beneficial for Iran and the United States. He claimed that US officials have realized that their approach to Iran over the past few years has weakened the United States and strengthened Iran.

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