Ex-FM Zarif Justifies Iran's Proxy Support Amid Worst Tensions In Years
The former Iranian foreign minister has voiced support for the country’s regional proxies amidst the worst tensions in decades.
The former Iranian foreign minister has voiced support for the country’s regional proxies amidst the worst tensions in decades.
Speaking to hardline Tehran-based newspaper Vatan-e Emrooz, Mohammad Javad Zarif underscored Iran's “genuine support” for such militant groups in the region, dubbed the "Axis of Resistance", a brainchild of Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Since October, Iran and its regional allies have intensified their activities against Israel and the US, coinciding with Israel's military campaign in Gaza following Hamas' surprise attack on Israel which killed 1200.
For the past nearly four months, militias supported by Iran in Iraq and Syria have been directing attacks on US bases,
Hezbollah in Lebanon has been firing missiles towards northern Israel, and Houthi rebels in Yemen have been targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea.
They cite Israel's military campaign in Gaza as justification for their actions and advocate for a ceasefire.
Zarif’s statement follows the recent killing of three American soldiers in an attack by militant forces along the Jordan-Syria border. In response, the President of the United States has declared intentions to retaliate against such assaults.
Iranian officials claim these forces act “independently” and do not receive direct orders from Iran while Zarif claimed “the Islamic Republic can play an important role in supporting the resistance."
Zarif, who served as Iran's Foreign Minister for eight years under President Hassan Rouhani, faced sanctions from the Trump administration under an executive order targeting key figures associated with the Iranian leadership.
“These executions are a lesson for anyone who wants to stand against the will of the Iranian nation because the Iranian nation will punish them for their deeds,” Mehdi Sa’adati, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) Monday.
Iran’s parliament is controlled by hardliners, many of whom come from the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards, and have fully supported security and intelligence agencies in their crackdown on dissent.
The four prisoners -- Pejman Fatehi, Mohsen Mazloum, Mohammad (Hazhir) Faramarzi and Wafa Azarbar – who were hanged at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, near Tehran, were accused of planning to blow up a defense ministry facility in Najafabad, Esfahan Province in July 2022. They were accused of being Israeli agents.
“Cooperation with Mossad has no outcome other than being executed. This is the Iranian nation’s demand,” he added.
Iranian authorities claim that the four young men were apprehended in a village in Iran’s West Azarbaijan Province, just days before they were set to execute their planned operation. They further allege that these individuals received training from Israel's Mossad in three African countries, including Tanzania, where they practiced using similar structures as target simulations.
The prisoners, who belonged to the Kurdish Komala party, were allegedly forced into making false self-incriminating confessions, which the state television (IRIB) aired in October 2022, and were tried behind closed doors without due process.
Their lawyer, Masoud Shamsnejad, has said that he was not allowed to see the case files and the Supreme Court turned down his request for a retrial for lack of submission of court documents.
The executions have enraged many Iranians, particularly those in Kurdish areas, where they went on a general strike on Tuesday. Seven Kurdish human rights organizations including Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, as well the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan called for the general strike in the Kurdish areas of Iran in protest to the executions and to draw the attention of the international community to the worrying human rights situation in Iran's Kurdish areas.
“I assure that Kurdistan will not remain silent in the face of the killing of its children,” Abdullah Mohtadi, secretary general of the Komala Party, tweeted Monday.
Rights organizations have also warned that Iran’s Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence passed on six other Kurdish prisoners who will be in imminent danger of execution.
Iran International has received reports about total or partial internet disruptions in some areas of Iran's Kordestan Province.
Amnesty International said in a tweet on Monday that it was horrified by the arbitrary execution of the four Kurdish dissidents “after a grossly unfair secret trial”.
“Their execution comes amid an alarming spike in executions by Iran's authorities, including as tool of political repression against protesters, dissidents & oppressed ethnic minorities, particularly Kurds & Baluchis, who are disproportionately targeted by the death penalty,” Amnesty said while urging the international community to condemn the Islamic Republic’s “killing spree and intensified use of the death penalty as a tool of repression.”
Rights organizations and activists have called on Nada Al-Nashif, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, to cancel her visit to Tehran from 2 to 5 February to investigate executions and women's rights violations in protest to the regime’s executions.
“The timing of this visit, the context in which it would take place and its modalities raise very serious concerns. We respectfully urge you to hear these concerns and to reconsider the opportunity, timing and modalities of this visit,” Article 19, an international human rights organization, said in an open letter addressed to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and Al-Nashif.
The Guardian Council, with powers to vet candidates, announced the results for the upcoming elections on March 1. The Assembly of Experts is the constitutionally designated body to select the future Supreme Leader, as it once did in 1989, when Ali Khamenei was chosen after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini.
The Guardian Council announced its results, disqualifying former President Hassan Rouhani, a member since 2000, and Ayatollah Ahmad Parvaei, a member since 2016. Parvaei expressed his intention to comply fully with the law and hopes the Council will reconsider its decision. Meanwhile, Rouhani demands the Council publicly state the reasons for his disqualification.
Lawmaker Javad Karimi-Ghodousi (Qoddusi) suggested in a tweet before the official announcement that Rouhani's potential to influence the choice of the future leader was a key factor in his disqualification. This suggestion drew parallels with the historical meeting at Saqifah in Medina in 632 CE, where the appointment of Abu Bakr as the leader of the Muslim community was contentious.
Abu Bakr’s appointment as the leader of the Muslim community, despite the insistence of the Prophet’s relatives and some of his companions who believed the Prophet had appointed his cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as his successor marked the beginning of the division with those in favor of the meeting’s decision being labeled Sunnis and supporters of Ali’s right to caliphate as Shia.
According to the reformist Ham-Mihan newspaper, Rouhani's disqualification, rather than being solely based on legal reasons and candidates' past history, revolves around the anticipated expediency of future events.
This is not the first time such a rationale has been employed by the Guardian Council, Ham-Mihan pointed out. In 2013, it barred the veteran politician Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani from running in the presidential elections, citing similar considerations.
The Guardian Council, originally empowered to interpret the Constitution, review legislation, and supervise elections, bestowed upon itself discretionary supervisory powers in 1991, giving it the final say on candidate eligibility. Over the past two decades, it has used these powers to eliminate various political factions, targeting reformists, moderates, and even some conservatives.
Some prominent former officials previously disqualified from running in elections include Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and conservative parliament speaker Ali Larijani, ostensibly due to concerns about their loyalty to Khamenei.
The Council, however, has always cited other reasons for disqualifying candidates or argued that it could not confirm the candidate’s qualifications due to lack of sufficient evidence. Religious jurisprudence (ijtihad), required for running in elections of the Assembly of Experts, for instance, has often been cited for disqualification of candidates in its elections.
The Guardian Council comprises twelve members, half of whom are clerics with expertise in Sharia laws appointed by the supreme leader. The remaining six members, who may be laymen or clerics versed in civil law, are appointees of the chief justice. They require parliamentary approval for their appointments but cannot vote on matters related to Sharia.
Disputes between the Council and Parliament over legislation are referred to the Expediency Council, whose members are also appointed by the supreme leader. The Guardian Council has a history of rejecting legislative reforms related to elections, women's rights, and international human rights conventions.
This ongoing pattern of candidate disqualification has raised concerns about the transparency and fairness of Iran's electoral process.
