Iran And Its Proxies Should Behave, Says US Special Envoy
When it comes to dealing with Iran, “words are not enough” and action has to be taken, the US Deputy Special Envoy to Iran, Abram Paley, told Iran International.
When it comes to dealing with Iran, “words are not enough” and action has to be taken, the US Deputy Special Envoy to Iran, Abram Paley, told Iran International.
In an exclusive interview, with Samira Gharaei, Paley said the Biden administration has been “very clear” in both public and private messaging that “now is not the time for Iran or for the groups that it supports to take advantage of the situation [in the Middle East] and advance their own destabilizing interests.”
Iran and its regional allies have ramped up their operations against Israel and the US since last October, when Israel’s military began its onslaught on Gaza in response to the Hamas rampage of Israeli border areas.
For three months now, Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria have been targeting US bases, Hezbollah in Lebanon has been launching missiles towards northern Israel, and Yemen Houthis have been attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea, all invoking Israeli war on Gaza as the reason for their actions, and calling for a ceasefire.
President Biden has refused to back the growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, though, and Paley reiterated in his interview that the administration’s support for Israel is unwavering.
Critics of the Biden administration on all sides –those who advocate more pressure on Netanyahu and those demanding a tougher stance on Iran– say lack of decisive action would not help calm, but aggravate, the situation and lead, eventually, to the kind of full-scale regional war that the administration is hoping to avert.
“I’m not going to preview US actions,” Abram Paley said when addressing the question of deterrence, and what the US government might do if the Iranian regime and its proxies continue their attacks on American interests in the region.
“We view Iran as an adversary and a state sponsor of terrorism… but we don’t focus on just one thing… we’re going to remain committed to focusing on a full range of Iran’s destabilizing behavior: from its nuclear program to its crackdown on human rights at home, to its provision of weapons to groups in the region.”
Many Iranian-American activists say the Biden administration is “soft” on Iran, demanding more pressure and less compromise, especially when it comes to human rights abuses and the US support dissidents and activists inside Iran.
“We’re going to stand with the Iranian people,” Paley responded. “We’re going to continue to make sure that their voices are heard… and that they stay connected to the outside world.”
Since coming to office, President Joe Biden seems to have framed his Iran policy around a wish to revive the abandoned 2015 nuclear deal or at least come to another (written or unwritten) agreement that would limit Iran’s nuclear program.
This doesn’t seem to have worked, however.
IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, confirmed in its last report of December 2023 that Iran has resumed enrichment to up to 60 percent, close to the roughly 90 percent that is required to make a nuclear weapon –after a temporary slowdown, brought about by release of some frozen Iranian funds and turning a blind eye on oil exports to China.
“We believe that diplomacy is the only way and the best way to arrive at a sustainable, effective resolution to [Iran’s nuclear] program over the long tem,” US deputy special envoy to Iran addressed the issue. “But at this point we’re very very far from that, given Iran’s continued escalation.”
Mr. Paley has been acting as special envoy after Biden's top choice Robert Malley was suspended after his security clearance was revoked due to an unspecified reason.
Asked about his former boss and what may happen to him next, Paley said, “I can’t comment… but despite that situation, the work at the State Department vis a vis Iran has continued.”
Speaking to followers, Khamenei emphasized on Tuesday: "Everyone should make efforts to mobilize the people," underscoring the significance of the masses. He pointed out that "A limited number of people, let's say two million [in Gaza], have effectively challenged Israel and the United States, despite the latter’s immense power," unintentionally acknowledging his perceived arch-enemy.
The turnout in Iran's latest elections were between 20 to 40 percent in 2020 and 2021, but conservatives now predict a turnout between 5 to 8 percent in March. Iranians seem to be deeply annoyed by the indifference of the regime and its officials to their demands for more freedom and improved economic conditions.
The inflation rate is officially just under 50 percent, but for some essential commodities, such as foodstuff it is much higher. On the other hand, the regime's brutal crackdown on the 2022 nationwide protests, which left hundreds killed and blinded, as well as the hardliners' insistence in making life harder for everyone by passing medieval laws about hijab, meting out lashing sentences to women, and making the Internet inaccessible, has increased the extent of dissent in the country.
Meanwhile, the Raisi administration's inefficiency to solve the country's economic and foreign policy problems has become more evident with its inability to keep the country safe. Around 90 people were killed and twice as many were seriously wounded in an ISIS attack last week in the city of Kerman, where the government bused in school children and their mothers to pay tribute to the former commander of the IRGC Qods Force, Qasem Soleimani, on the fourth anniversary of his death.
Raisi's blunders elicit sad laughter from people every single day. One day, he states the obvious, saying he has discovered that the mothers of all students are women, while on another occasion, he struggles to read from a prepared speech. On Tuesday, he said that "inefficient individuals in every office should be transferred to another department."
Not all blunders are made by Raisi. His Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi who is under pressure to explain his failure to prevent the terror attack in Kerman, said in an interview that the food delivery company ‘Snap Food’ should change its name because "food" is an English word. He was obviously mindless of the fact that "snap" was also an English word. On the other hand, thousands of other companies also need to change their brand names if the government seriously wishes to do away with foreign words.
Culture Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili also claimed on Monday that a million visitors came to Iran during only one month to enjoy concerts! This comes while concerts are not allowed in some Iranian provinces due to the influence of hardliners such as Friday Imam Ahmad Alamolhoda, who happens to be Raisi's father-in-law. Several Iranian singers including Toomaj Salehi are in jail for supporting the protests, and the best Iranian singers and musicians are in Los Angeles, although their music is popular among people in Iran.
Khamenei, whose Guardian Council has barred nearly all moderate and reformist candidates from running in the March election, and effectively restricted political participation to ultraconservatives, knows that he can no longer ask the people or order them – for instance by issuing a fatwa [religious decree] – to take part in the elections. So, he resorts to ordering officials and institutions to push the people to the polls in any which way they can.
Meanwhile, he tried to intimidate the nation by saying that not voting is playing into the hands of the United States and other enemies of the Islamic revolution.
Khamenei said, "The masses can do anything." But he probably forgot that he ordered his commanders to suppress the masses. Only in one protest in 2019 his security forces killed at least 1,500 people from among the masses. In the meantime, Khamenei has done little to pacify a disgruntled nation that has lost all hope in any positive change.