Kayhan London
Keyhan London editorial by Hamed Mohammadi
About three months after the temporary ceasefire, some regime officials claim that the “Islamic Republic is the world’s fourth superpower.” Some of them have threatened that we will not rest until we “avenge” the blood of Ali Khamenei. The excessive boasting is pleasing and probably believable to the regime’s chest-scrapers, but for a minority of them who assess the situation more realistically, the situation is different, because they see that the government is negotiating with the United States through intermediaries or directly in Muscat and Doha out of necessity, and that is in a situation where more than 50 days after the killing of Ali Khamenei and an army of military personnel, they have not had the strength to bury their leader.
With the dollar at 172,000 Tomans, high inflation, and a lack of financial resources to clear the rubble of war and build a market for the ruins, Masoud Pezzekian says, “What if we don’t negotiate?” But this view, expressed out of desperation, has resonated with many elements of the government. An Iranian official told the Wall Street Journal, “Iran’s foreign exchange reserves were only enough for less than three months before the war,” meaning the situation is worse now.
Amir Hossein Sabeti, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (a member of the Paydari Front), criticized “involving America” and said to Pezzekian, “Didn’t war break out in the middle of the negotiation table the previous times? So you still want to negotiate until there is war and our new leader is assassinated?”
Simultaneously with the negotiations, the United States fires at IRGC boats and military bases of the Islamic Republic whenever it wants, without any noticeable reaction. Only sometimes the Foreign Ministry or a military or political official complains about “violation of the ceasefire” and that’s it! Trump has not accepted the Islamic Republic’s conditions. American officials address the Islamic Republic’s officials in whatever way they want and in whatever tone they want. This situation has also made the government’s associates speak out.
Kazem Ghazanfari, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, says: “America threatens and humiliates us every day.”
What Trump is doing to the Islamic Republic is a model of Ronald Reagan’s treatment of the leaders of the former Soviet Union.
Trump, along with economic pressure and military competition, constantly humiliated them and damaged their reputation. By doing so, he wants to widen the gaps within the government and increase the likelihood of miscalculation by the officials. In fact, he is influencing the “maidan” with his words. It has now reached a point where some regime supporters have dubbed Abbas Araqchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the government’s two top negotiators, “Toussari Khor.” Trump and his associates have targeted the regime’s prestige, especially since they know that the government lacks sufficient legitimacy due to the high level of public discontent.
