Tens of former Iranian ambassadors and senior diplomats have issued a statement warning about the perils of Iran’s controversial pro-East foreign policy.
The statement said, "The policy of a unilateral tendency favoring the East and radical opposition to the West as well as denial of the benefits of balanced relations with world powers have irreparably damaged Iran's interests."
This statement was issued following Russia's support for the claim by United Arab Emirates over the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. The UAE wishes to refer the case to the International Court of Justice. Tehran has dismissed Moscow's stance as "undermining Iran's territorial integrity" and some Friday Prayer Imams in Iran have called for an apology by Russia.
The former diplomats warned that absolute reliance on friendly ties with some countries (Russia and China) will naturally make them believe that they can do anything to Iran.
A day earlier, some websites in Tehran reported on a speech July 12 by former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who had argued along the same lines, saying that a perpetual anti-West policy is harmful to national interests.
They said that such a policy will impose a heavy cost on the country, adding that a balanced foreign policy and a realistic approach to international relations, as well as avoiding policies that negatively affect Iran's national interests can be the driving force of an intelligent foreign policy in the current situation.
The statement said Iran owes its territorial integrity to the endeavors of its citizens, and the government is committed by law to defend the country's territorial integrity. It further noted that this was not the first time Russia undermined Iran's interests.
The former diplomats added that dignified diplomacy requires prevention of such unfriendly stances in any way possible. They pointed out that although Iran attaches priority to its international relations and particularly to its ties with Russia, nonetheless, the country's national interests and territorial integrity come over and above everything else. The statement stressed that there is no room for any compromise on the country's national interests.
The senior diplomats further observed: "We believe that the reason for imposing this unacceptable behavior by others and ignoring the Islamic Republic's status and its national interests is that Iran has stopped abiding by its principle of "neither East, nor West" which was its motto after the 1979 revolution.
The lack of a balanced foreign policy will encourage opportunist states to take advantage of their relations with Iran and using it solely to serve their own interests, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the print media in Tehran highlighted the statement on Sunday. Etemad Online quoted academic Ali Asghar Zargar as warning that "Russians can easily play with Iran's card and gamble on Tehran's interests, adding that Iran must be alert about such eventualities and not be content simply by demanding apologies from China and Russia when they undermine its interests.
On the same day, Khabar Online carried a report in which it asked: "Why Russia and China often surprise Iran? Can we expect anything more than this from unilateral relations?" The website added that the controversy over Russia's behavior less than six months after China had adopted a similar position on the issue of the three islands, was an outcome of Iran's imbalanced foreign relations.
Abolfazl Qadiani (Ghadiani), a 78-year-old former Islamic-leftist revolutionary and Khamenei’s comrade-in-arms, who has become an uncompromising opponent said, “religious dictatorship is the worst kind of all dictatorships in the world.”
Qadiani belonged to a leftist, revolutionary group that was supporting the Islamic Republic and Khamenei until the disputed presidential election of 2009, when the Supreme Leader backed the questionable re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Qadiani, with many others, protested the results and was jailed to become an opposition figure.
The former revolutionary said that religious dictatorship has combined “bribes, force and deception” to rule, and Khamenei is the epitome of this dictatorship, who worships power.
His stinging attacks on Khamenei became more frequent since 2018 after the first wave of popular anti-regime protests. His use of terms such as “dictator” and “enemy of the people” to describe Khamenei were unprecedented open rejection of the Leader’s long rule by a public figure in Iran.
However, the regime has been noticeably cautious in not attacking his home and arresting him without a warrant, as it has done so many times with younger opponents who were not from the 1970s revolutionary generation.
In 2018, Qadiani was put on trial for "insults against the Supreme Leader" and was sentenced to three years in prison, as well as hand-copying books written about Khamenei. His charge was "insults against the Supreme Leader" and another two years for "propaganda against the regime".
The old revolutionary rejected the legitimacy of the court, not having attended his own trial, and the regime did not forcibly arrest him to serve the sentence.
However, he intensified his criticisms during the popular anti-regime protests in 2022 and 2023, saying in May thatthe Islamic Republic should be overthrown, going even beyond earlier criticism that mainly targeted Khamenei. However, he left the door open to a peaceful change saying that if Khamenei resigns and repents, the political crisis may get resolved.
Earlier in March, he directly accused Khamenei of orchestrating a series of poison gas attacks on schools that sent hundreds of schoolgirls to hospitals, arguing that the dictator was taking revenge for the Women, Life, Liberty movement and protests.
"In his false belief, by suppressing the street gatherings, he found an opportunity to take revenge to appease his evil spirit. So, he has targeted the physical and mental health and safety of the brave pioneers of the movement,”Qadiani said, knowing that there could well be retaliation.
In early July, the response came when a court sentenced him to 10 months in prison and now Qadiani says he will be happy to serve the sentence and will voluntarily surrender. He added that it would be a joy for him to spend time with other regime opponents in prison, “despite multiple illnesses I have.”
His 10-month jail sentence is for “propaganda against the regime,” with a 10-day notice period to surrender at the court.
Qadiani in his statement published on Saturday said, “Khamenei’s enmity with the Iranian people has been proven to all…and I will present myself to the court on Saturday July 22.”
Zarif, who negotiated the 2015 JCPOA nuclear accord with the United States, suggested that Iran should have its strongest ties with China like some 180 other countries in “the current post-western world,” when neither all important events take place in the West, nor it is the West that makes decisions on important developments of the world.
In a speech at the Iranian Society of Political Sciences in Tehran July 12, Zarif said that the end of the Cold War gave rise to the illusion of the emergence of a unipolar world order. "In fact, the years 1990 – 2008 were marked by the illusion of a unipolar world," he said.
The former foreign minister's speech came after a long silence, and it is not clear if the timing of his public appearance carries any particular meaning.
Zarif added that at the time, Russia had lost the Cold War, but the United States did not win it. "We are currently undergoing a period of transition," he said, adding that many politicians in Iran still have the mentality of the Cold War era and expect Russia to play the role it used to play. This is based on a wrong perception and this miscalculation can lead to our destruction.
"Today Russia cannot compete with other powers in any area. The reason why Russia attacked Ukraine was that it wanted other powers to negotiate with it," Zarif said, adding that "Today there is no permanent alliances between countries. Instead, they are replaced with temporary coalitions. Thinking of permanent alliances is a pitfall."
He argued that Iran wrongly thinks Russia can be its ally. Many were surprised when Russia did not veto UN Resolution 1929 against Iran, which set up a fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations. “But I knew that they were not going to veto it,” Zarif said. However, he insisted: “I am not an anti-Russian person. I believe it is dangerous for Iran to be anti-Russian or anti-US. We should prioritize our national interests and then consider opposing US domination."
Zarif argued that perhaps no new dominating power will emerge. China's point of strength is the power of its trade and technology. He added that we are moving toward a global network rather than a bipolar or unipolar world.
Speaking about the nuclear talks, Zarif said the negotiation has always been a war of narratives between Iran and the United States which did not work well although both Iran and the US narratives were meant to reach an agreement.
Meanwhile, former diplomat Jalal Sadatian also said in an interview on Saturday that "China and Russia simply perceive Iran as a friend and not as a strategic ally and regulate their ties with Tehran based on the same perception."
He observed that Iran unilaterally assumes that countries such as China and Russia are its strategic allies, but those countries do not have such a definition of their ties with Iran.
Sadatian, a former Iranian ambassador in the United Kingdom, said, "This explains why Russia and China sometimes take positions against Iran's territorial integrity. They regulate their relations with Iran based on their own national interests not based on illusions. Therefore, when they see relations with the Persian Gulf Arab states is more beneficial for their interests, they align with those countries rhetoric."
"This means, when they see they can win hefty contracts with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates they tend to get closer to those countries regardless of our demands and interests," Sadatian explained.
Earlier in the week, in a joint Russia-GCC statement at the sixth joint ministerial meeting between the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and the Russia, ministers affirmed their support for the United Arab Emirates demand over three Iranian islands.
He added that the third point in this respect is that "the Islamic Republic needs to strike a balance in its ties with East and West in order to benefit from its geopolitical potentials. Iran's constant anti-Western rhetoric will eventually weaken it."
“The state media claims that some of the teachers and students of Zahedan Dar ol-Olum [also known as Maki Seminary] have forged their identity documents is absolutely false,” Abdolhamid’s office said in a statement published on his official website Thursday, following a recent mass expulsion.
The state-run television (IRIB) reported Wednesday that authorities arrested 132 preachers who were “foreign nationals” and aired brief interviews with three Afghan men, presumably from among the preachers sent back home, who said they had forged identity documents and entered Iran illegally.
The statement from the Sunni cleric came a day after the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) linked Tasnim news agency claimed that fifty percent of the students and some of the teachers of Maki Seminary are “foreign nationals” who are illegally residing in the southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
The expulsion of seminary students was part of government pressure tactics against Abdolhamid who has been a consistent critic of the Shiite clerical regime since 90 protesters were gunned down by security forces in Zahedan on September 30, 2022.
Abdolhamid’s office said the Afghans sent back to Afghanistan were forced to make false statements about forging identity documents and illegal residence in Iran, threatening to reveal details of security forces’ intimidation.
In an attempt to conceal the mass expulsion, Tasnim claimed that a considerable number of seminary teachers and directors with illegal identity documents and forged identities were spared harsh prison sentences and instead sent back to their home country, attributing the reprieve to “Islamic compassion”.
The outspoken, moderate cleric who has become the unofficial voice of the country’s Sunni population - which is roughly 10 percent of the 88 million population - has come under constant pressure from the authorities recently to stop his fiery Friday sermons.
Abdolhamid has criticized the government for funding and controlling religious seminaries and taking away their independence. Iran's government annually allocates hundreds of millions of dollars to Shia religious seminaries and other religious institutions that play the role of its propaganda arm.
Abdolhamid’s call for a referendum with the presence of international observers to decide the future form of government in Iran has massively angered hardliners. He has expressed more liberal views about the role of women in the society after being criticized by some Baluchi activists for not mentioning women and acknowledging equality of men and women in his controversial Friday prayer sermons.
Iranian authorities often refer to citizens of Afghanistan, millions of whom live in Iran as refugees or economic migrants, as “foreign nationals”.
In April 2022, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said one million more Afghans had entered Iran since the Taliban took power in August the previous year, bringing the number of refugees and economic migrant to five million.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), only 780,000 of Afghans residing in Iran are recognized as refugees. Most other Afghans are considered economic migrants who have been an important workforce in Iran.