Biden and Trump Clash Over Their Iran Records in First Debate

Roughly forty Iranian-Germans protested against Seyed Hossein Mousavian and his relations with a largely pro-Islamic Republic German think tank.

The California-based organization, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), launched a campaign against Mousavian in March after it was revealed that he allegedly played a role in the assassinations of at least 24 Iranian dissidents in the 1990’s.

The prominent German-Iranian dissident Mina Ahadi spearheaded the protest in front of the think tank Körber Foundation in Hamburg. Mousavian was the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Germany from 1990 to 1997 when Iran’s regime assassinated Kurdish dissidents in a West Berlin restaurant Mykonos in 1992.

Ahadi told Iran International that Farah Madaen spoke against Körber’s “dialogue” with Mousavian and the regime in Tehran. Madaen’s three brothers and sister were executed by the Islamic Republic in the 1980’s for dissident activity. “We don’t where there bodies are,“ Madean said at the protest.

Körber is under fire for recently inviting Mousavian to Hamburg for an event. The controversial German organization has long courted Mousavian as one of its key speakers.

“This campaign has showed that Körber cannot repeat something with Mousavian unless they do it secretly, “said Ahadi.

Maria Mahmoudi also delivered a speech at the protest. The Islamic Republic executed her husband, the Iranian-Kurd, Mohammad Faramarzi, and three other Kurdish dissidents in January, for alleged links to Israel.

AAIRIA has urged Princeton University to fire Mousavian and called on Körber to swiftly sever ties with Mousavian.

Ahadi and two other German-Iranians, Jasmin Maleki and Ali Ertan Toprak, were present at a Wednesday meeting with Körber representatives, Thomas Paulsen and Julian Claaßen. Ahadi posted a picture on her X account from the meeting. 

Ahadi told the Körber officials that the German community wants the foundation to conduct “an interview with us in order to respond to Mousavian.” Körber interviewed Mousavian and posted the question and answer session with him on its website.

She also expressed the Iranian diaspora’s “criticism of Körber’s appeasement policy” toward the clerical regime during the meeting. Ahadi requested that Körber hold an event with German-Iranians who oppose the Islamic Republic.

The organization International Women in Power also condemned Körber in a statement, for “providing a platform to Mousvian who worked for the brutal Iranian gender apartheid regime and is known for defending the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.”

Mousavian has strongly endorsed a so-called Iranian fatwa ordering the murder of the British-American writer Rushdie. He defended the fatwa during interviews with German media outlets and told Spiegel magazine about Rushdie: “I hate him. He insulted my religion, my prophet, the laws.”

Mousavian also supports the German and US-designated terrorist entities, Hamas and Hezbollah.

Körber was founded by the former Nazi, Kurt Adolf Körber (1909-1992), who exploited concentration camp victims to advance the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler’s war goals.

When asked about Mousavian’s support for the antisemitic terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, and the comment from Daniel Killy, a member of the advisory board of the Jewish community of Hamburg, who demanded that Körber stop “inviting apologists of the Mullah regime," the commissioner tasked with fighting antisemitism in Hamburg, Stefan Hensel, refused to comment.

Killy told Iran International that Körber should “sack the people within their foundation being responsible for the invitations over the years." Körber took credit on its website about a delegation it sent to Iran in 2017. Iran International has learned that Körber does not want the picture circulated. Iran International asked Körber and Körber AG about the names of its employees who were Iran and the nature of its business deals with the Islamic Republic.

The Körber Foundation and its parent company, Körber AG, did not immediately respond to Iran International press queries about Mousavian and its business relations with Iran’s regime..

Mousavian refused to answer Iran International email and WhatsApp press queries.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Iran was unwilling to negotiate for Djalali’s release.

He also advised Swedes against traveling to Iran, saying Swedish citizens who go to countries advised against by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should not expect help if something happens.

Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian currently on death row in Iran, has started a hunger strike to protest being left out of the recent prisoner swap deal that secured the release of two Swedes jailed in Tehran.

The two Swedes were released in return for former Iranian jailor Hamid Noury who was serving a life sentence in Sweden over his role in Iran’s mass executions of the 1980s.

“My husband, Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian political prisoner facing imminent execution by the Islamic Republic, is going on hunger strike starting June 26th, after being abandoned by the Swedish government and excluded from the recent prisoner swap that secured the release of other Swedish citizens,” Djalale’s wife Vida Mehrannia wrote on X.

Arash Sadeghi, a former political prisoner, expressed grave concerns for Djalali, whom he met in Ward 4 of Evin Prison. Noting Djalali's severe emaciation from previous hunger strikes, Sadeghi warned that Djalali's life is now at serious risk.

Djalali, a specialist in emergency medicine was arrested in April 2016 during a visit to Iran and remains imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. He was accused of espionage and later sentenced to death in October 2017 by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

In December 2017, Iranian state TV aired forced confessions by Djalali which was widely condemned by human rights groups and viewed as a means to legitimize the death sentence verdict.

The sanctions come in response to Iran’s “continued nuclear escalations and failure to cooperate with the IAEA,” according to the US Treasury Department and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The sanctions have targeted three UAE-based companies linked to Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical trade including Al Anchor Ship Management FZE, Almanac Ship Management LLC, and Sea Route Ship Management FZE as well as 11 vessels connected to them, as per the Treasury Department website.

"Over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose. Iran’s actions to increase its enrichment capacity are all the more concerning in light of Iran’s continued failure to cooperate with the IAEA and statements by Iranian officials suggesting potential changes to Iran’s nuclear doctrine," said Blinken in a statement on Thursday.

“We are committed to using all available tools to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon,” Blinken said in a statement on X.

Recently, Group of Seven (G7) leaders warned Iran against advancing its nuclear enrichment program.

Iran is set to triple or even quadruple its uranium enrichment at Fordow, one of its most secretive nuclear sites, according to recent reports by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) and the Washington Post.

Experts warned that within a month, Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for five nuclear weapons at Fordow.

Earlier in June the UN nuclear watchdog's Board of Governors passed a resolution censuring Iran and demanding that it resolve outstanding issues with the IAEA over its advancing nuclear program.

In its June report, the IAEA said Iran aims to continue expanding its nuclear program in ways that "have no credible peaceful purpose."

The IAEA demanded Iran step up cooperation with the watchdog and reverse its recent barring of inspectors.

The last two rounds of presidential election debates, aired on state television on Monday and Tuesday, revealed a consensus among all candidates. They agreed that the nation's most urgent expectation from the government and the new President is to solve the financial problems that have persisted for many years, especially since 2018.

The next most urgent expectation appears to be the lifting of sanctions.

Both of these expectations are fundamentally related to the country's foreign policy crisis, and more accurately regarding Iran's ties with the US.

While broadcasting the monologues that state TV claims are "debates" among the candidates, the broadcaster stated that viewers have indicated the most urgent problems they expect the next president to solve are, in order of significance:

• Economic problems 73.5%
• Improving situation of welfare 26%
• Tackling unemployment 25.7%
• Tackling financial corruption 25.6%
• Improving relations with other countries 19.3%
• Lifting the sanctions 15.7%
• Lifting the filtering [on the Internet] 6.6%
• Negotiating with the United States 6.5%
• Easing dress code enforcement 5.8%
• Reducing cost of medical treatment 5.1%
• Other 4.4%
• No response 3%

Among these expectations, economic and financial demands include solving economic problems, improving welfare, reducing unemployment, addressing financial corruption, and lowering the cost of medical treatment.

On the other hand, the expectations of lifting sanctions and negotiating with the US pertain to foreign policy and relations with the US.

Obviously, the improvement of the financial situation depends on resolving foreign policy issues and maintaining ties with the US. The mention of improving relations with "other countries" is also a euphemism for resuming ties with the US.

Lifting internet filtering and easing the enforcement of the dress code (hijab) are two social issues that highlight the difference between the lifestyle the nation prefers and the one dictated by Islamic ideology.

Nearly all the candidates, even the most anti-US one, Saeed Jalili, agreed in their remarks on state television that negotiations with Washington are necessary, even if former President Donald Trump returns to power.

In the meantime, many were misled to believe that a 2019 video of Trump speaking during a news conference with the Japanese leader indicated a new development, suggesting Trump was eager to maintain ties with the current leadership of the Islamic Republic.

Some netizens went so far as to suggest that the US leadership does not care about Iranians' political demands and is ready to compromise. Iranian leaders seemed pleased with this incorrect conclusion, which was based on fake news.

Some social media users opined, however, that it was most certainly not possible for Khamenei to allow a compromise with Trump, given that he was the man who ordered the killing of former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.

Be that as it may, the call made by all six candidates for negotiating with the US was in sharp contradiction with Supreme Leader Khamenei, who said on Tuesday that candidates should not turn to the United States and should instead do business with Russia and China.

If the candidates are serious about negotiating with the US to improve the populace’s financial situation, they need to think twice if they wish to remain loyal and obedient to Khamenei.

This would also indicate that Iran’s relations with the US are likely to remain a central dilemma for the Islamic Republic's problems for at least another four years.

"Today the Islamic Republic does not just decide the Iranian nation's path... It rather decides the path and fates of regional nations and Resistance," Hassan Nasrallah said in a video message to a ceremony commemorating the 40th day since the death of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi.

"The future of the region hinges on the developments of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he added, calling on Iranian people to elect "the right president" in the Friday's election.

The "Resistance" refers to the alliance of armed militant groups sponsored by Iran, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Houthis in Yemen, and Iraqi Shiite militias.

Established in 1982 by Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), Hezbollah is the cornerstone of the Tehran-backed alliance hostile to Israel and the United States.

In his Thursday speech, Nasrallah also offered condolences to Raisi's family, praising Tehran's response to the chopper crash that killed him last month.

Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died in a helicopter crash on May 19. Both Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian were considered the "driving force" behind what proxy leaders describe as "the achievements of the Resistance Front", including the October 7 attack on Israel or the Iraqi militants' attacks on American interests.

However, the Islamic Republic's policy of supporting its regional armed proxies is not controlled by the Executive Branch of the government and is expected to remain unchanged regardless of who becomes the president.