Hardliner’s post sparks warnings over Iran regime unity
The Islamic Republic has warned officials to refrain from making “harsh remarks that would disrupt cohesion” after recent comments by the regime’s hardliners were interpreted by some to be a swipe at Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, according to statements made to state and state-affiliated media.
“Currently, the official policy of the regime is that no harsh comments that disrupt cohesion should be made in official platforms and places that represent the official policy of the regime,” Ali Zeynivand, the political deputy at the Interior Ministry, told the Iranian Labour News Agency in an article published on Sunday.
Zeynivand’s comments to ILNA came shortly after hardline Iranian cleric Hamid Rasaei’s Telegram post on Thursday, which referenced the drowned unrighteous son of the biblical figure Noah.
‘Who Is Worthy of the Position of Leadership?’
Captioned under the title “Who Is Worthy of the Position of Leadership?” Iran International and the New York Times reported that the post has been interpreted widely as a criticism of Khamenei. Such an interpretation would see Khamenei framed as the wayward son of the deceased Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Familial relations don’t necessarily make for being righteous,” he wrote.
Rasaei has been a fierce critic of the Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was endorsed by Khamenei the same day he made the controversial Telegram post.
Rasaei later denied that his message was intended as a critique of the ayatollah, claiming he was among the first to endorse Khamenei after his father was killed.
Possible signs of fracture within the regime’s top brass,
Rasaei’s comments are just the latest in what is some have claimed is signs of fracture within the regime’s top brass, as referenced in Zeynivand’s interview.
“The Iranian Broadcasting Corporation itself should be the axis of cohesion, and it is currently the axis. In any case, any move that undermines cohesion in these circumstances is ultimately useless and must be held accountable,” he told ILNA.
Recent weeks have seen the conservative Khorasan newspaper publish damning articles of the state broadcaster for amplifying rhetoric that risked “deepening divisions and polarizing the public.”
As first reported on by Iran International, Iranian hardline MP Ali Khezrian accused Khorasan of “updating Israel and the United States’ list of potential sites to strike” after the media site published footage of a petrochemical facility in Lorestan Province. Khezrian is the same MP who was reported to have spent hours accusing regime officials of supporting foreign interests during IRIB broadcasts in early May.
The incidents cited above appear to be only the visible surface of deeper divisions within the Islamic Republic, as reports in recent weeks suggest a widening rift between hardliners and reformists, particularly over the prospect of a potential deal with Washington.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian last week scolded hardline state television directors for portraying negotiations as a failure and for deepening divisions, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
Despite the reports, Ben Sabti, an Iran expert and researcher at INSS, explained to The Jerusalem Post it was necessary to approach reports of divisions with “suspicion” as the former ayatollah developed a strategy of creating a fake reformist camp.
Describing such a strategy as a “political trick,” Sabti shared that there were two main benefits to this strategy. Firstly, it creates the illusion that there are other voices within the regime “and in this case, they can also claim that they are against the radicals and fanatics,” and through creating a feeling of instability necessitating the role of Khamenei.
“The instability serves the stability of the leader,” Sabti concluded.