Sunday, March 22, 2009

On Khamenei’s Response to Obama

Farideh Farhi

Juan Cole already has a run down of some of the things Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei said in response to President Obama’s message on the occasion of Iranian New Year and the press coverage of it. I think Juan’s point about the speech not being a rebuff is on the money, but I do take issue with his characterization of the speech being more like a “grumpy old man response to Obama's call for engagement.”

I say this because I think the translations of the bits and pieces of the speech in the news (even the Persian language Farsnews upon which Juan relies) do not do justice to this carefully crafted response intended to set the parameters of US-Iran talks if they are to happen.

For those who can understand Persian, I recommend that you check Khamenei’s website. The Persian language section of the website - the site has translations in 12 other languages – has both the video of his speech as well as the whole text. The English section also has an abbreviated English translation which is decent but still does not relay the feel you get by watching the whole speech.

The speech was quite long, first dealing with domestic affairs and focusing mostly on the need to curb the consumption of resources. But it gets interesting around minute 40 when he explains why his public support for President Ahmadinejad should not be construed as support for him as a candidate in the next presidential election. This is of course a big issue for Iran’s domestic politics and the fact that the leader himself had to address it was significant since Ahmadinejad supporters are working very hard to give the impression that he is his candidate

The move to the subject of US-Iran talks is abrupt and Khamenei makes clear that this is the only external issue with which he will deal, spending more than 20 minutes on it. It is a powerful speech, calmly delivered, and mostly devoid of usual jargon. He does talk about US policies that have harmed Iran and continue to harm it, including sanctions, freezing of assets, support for opposition and secessionist groups, and Baluchi insurgents - communications of whom with US operatives he says the Iranian government has intercepted.

But he mentions these as reasons why mere conciliatory speeches cannot be considered real change in American policy. More significantly, he mentions them in order to explain why the continuation of these hostile policies has to make Iran wonder whether President Obama’s gestures are of any value: “They say they have extended their hands towards Iran. If the extended hand has a velvet glove but under it is an iron cast hand, then this does not have a good meaning.”

This leads to the point: “They say come and talk, come and establish relations, they change slogans. Well, where is this change? Clarify this for us; what has changed? Have you unfrozen the assets of the Iranian people; have you lifted the oppressive sanctions…? We do not have any experience with the new American government and president; we will look and judge. You change, and we will also change our behavior too.”

He also makes a clever play on the usual way the American policy community talks about Iran, turning it against US and saying “I don’t know who really makes policy in the US – the president, Congress or behind the scene players.” But no matter who makes decisions in the US, Iran makes decision "rationally and not based on emotions." The bottom line is: “Our nation dislikes it when you again proclaim ‘talks with pressure’; we talk to Iran while we pressure them as well – threat and inducement. You cannot talk to our nation this way."

Juan Cole interpret complains about US foreign policy as “Iran’s initial bargaining position which include everything but the kitchen sink.” I don’t.

Khamenei’s speech actually shows how attuned he is to debates in Washington. He makes no calls for U.S. apology for past actions. His focus is today. No doubt he wants sanctions to be lifted, assets unfrozen, and attempts to undermine the Iranian government ended at some point as a result of talks with the U.S.

But his concern now is the argument forwarded by powerful circles in Washington that negotiations with Iran should be combined with increased pressure to make sure that Iran will give in at the end. It is this type of what he calls “condescending language, arrogant approach, and patronizing moves” that he rejects.

Clearly from his view, engagement in talks must be accompanied with some concrete steps that show Iran that the United States is interested in a process and give and take and not a process based on “either deception or intimidation.” Deception because the objective remains the same while the softer language is a mere tactical change. Intimidation because talks are combined with further squeeze of Iran.

He leaves no doubt that further squeezing of Iran leading up to talks and during the talks will be seen as a sign that President Obama’s rhetoric of change is a farce. As such the speech should really be seen as a carefully calibrated attempt to shape the debate in Washington on how to go about talking to Iran.





55 comments:

BF said...

Fully concur with your analysis, specifically with the following:

"Khamenei’s speech actually shows how attuned he is to debates in Washington. He makes no calls for U.S. apology for past actions. His focus is today. No doubt he wants sanctions to be lifted, assets unfrozen, and attempts to undermine the Iranian government ended at some point as a result of talks with the U.S."

Incidentally, I have as yet not watched the video of the speech, but have read the full Persian transcript of it on the Official Website of Ayatollah Khamenei. It is indeed a very carefully-crafted speech, and extremely articulate (this applies also to those parts of the speech that are concerned with purely domestic issues).

BF.
_____

PS: Is there any way to remove the links (i.e. the advertisements) posted on this page? Seeing them, one if not encouraged to post real comments.

Anonymous said...

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Unknown said...

Hi Farideh, Since for sure Ayatollah Kahamene is directly addressing Obama he is talking to him in an advisory tone not only mentioning the past but also laying the path (Road map). I think one significant part of Ayatollah Khamene’s speech that nobody has yet really focus on was when he specifically advises Obama (with a sarcastic heh) not to have his speech translated by the Zionists the broader meaning of this is directed to Denis Ross as a negotiator with Iran, basically he is telling Obama that Ross is not an impartial negotiator for US interest or he is hinting that Ross may be not acceptable to Iran. I would be interested to know your thoughts.

Farideh Farhi said...

sorry BF, I don't know how to get rid of advertisement links. But I agree that the domestic discussion is also well crafted.

As to whether the reference to Zionist translators was an indirect reference to Ross, I must say that I hadn't thought about it that way until Kooshy mentioned it. It is a very interesting thought and we can only speculate.

But, I have to note that the reference comes not when he is talking to Obama about his Iran policy specifically but when he is giving him "advice" regarding US' general heavy-handed and patronizing approach to the world. He says if you don't change the world will chnage you. The context makes me lean towards the possibility that he just wants his words not to be misrepresented the way they usually are.

BF said...

Dear Farideh,

Thank you for your kind response. I sincerely believe that something should be done to get these persistent annoying ads off your pages; they really lay waste to your comments -- psychologically, they "cheapen" your comments, as it were. At times, these ads totally submerge your comments (in terms of the space that they occupy), leading one to suspect that inserting these ads into your pages may be a sly way of diverting attention from your comments.

As for Dennis Ross, he has a number of video comments on Big Think (unfortunately, the name has the ring of a word from the Newspeak vocabulary, like Doublethink) some of which seem very closely to reflect the foreign policy of the Obama Administration regarding the Middle East in general and Iran in particular. Of these, one is this. Incidentally, personally I do not subscribe to the suggestion by kooshy; Ayatollah Khamenei most likely was referring to Memri and similar organizations whose translations are in the service a particular policy in the Middle East; accuracy is not their prime objective.

Kind regards,

BF.

William Timberman said...

I know not a word of Farsi, but if the English translations available are at all accurate, I have to say that Khamenei's response to Obama is exactly what I would have said to him myself.

No matter what the domestic political realities are in the United States, you either negotiate with another sovereign nation as an equal, or you aren't in fact negotiating at all.

Nor is respect a bumpersticker; it's either genuine, or it doesn't exist. No one with any self-respect, let alone resources of his own, would allow himself to be spoken to the way American politicians routinely speak to and about the Iranian government.

We'll see what happens next, but from where I sit, the onus will by no means be on the Islamic Republic if Obama's gestures are not taken at face value. As the Ayatollah said, to be credible, words must be matched by deeds.

Unknown said...

Obviously Ayatollah Khamenie is not only thinking about the translation for sure the Iranians know that no decision maker will rely on one translation from one side normally you get 2 or 3 so it does not get lost in translation. In this speech he is definitely setting the parameters of the talk and I think one of his hints was who will be acceptable negotiator, just like the American side is saying we will Waite for after the Iranian election so we may not have to negotiate with Ahmadinijad. It is the first time that he is directly addressing an American president in a way he is accepting to negotiate so he is setting the goals and limits in a diplomatic negotiations just as accepting an ambassador you need to accept who to negotiate with sounds like he is hinting a "known Zionist" will not be an honest broker in this regard. I think it was a very claver speech

Anand said...

William Timberman, I don't agree. Khamenei (unelected dictator of Iran) is free to make his choices. America is free to make her choices based on his choices.

Let us not forget that Khamenei is a harsh dictator who is deeply unpopular and percieved as illegitimate by his own people. He does not speak for Iran. What Khamenei wants most is not to help Iranians but to stay in power. He wants America to do things that facilitate him staying in power.

This said, America should try to reach out to Khamenei and reach some type of accommodation with him (we do share many common interests and values.) At the same time we have to me mindful that we don't support Khamenei against the Iranian people. If we do that; we will end up with another Shah.

I would remind everyone that Iran is in the midst of a very severe recession at the moment. How did Khamenei deal with the recession beyond urging everyone to limit consumption? Did he try to inspire confidence in the Iranian economy? Did he try to implicitly blame the recession on Ahmadinejad and foreigners? Was Khamenei's refusal to endorse Ahmadinejad aimed at subtly blaming him for the severity of the recession? {I don't think this type of subterfuge will works. Most Iranians are furious with Khamenei due to the recession.}

Anonymous said...

"Let us not forget that Khamenei is a harsh dictator who is deeply unpopular and perceived as illegitimate by his own people."

What idiocy, and arrogant and mean-spirited as such idiocy always has to be.

Anonymous said...

The point of thugs is always try to separate Iranian leaders from the millions of Iranian people, the better to have an excuse to harm Iran in the name of the people. That was just the approach in the Israeli message to Iranians.

What thuggery.

Anand said...

Anonymous, how many Iranians do you know who like Khamenei? Khamenei would never run in a free election, because he knows he would lose. BTW, the same can be said for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and many other countries. This is not only a Khamenei problem.

This said, I hope Iran does not have a violent resistance movement, and I hope that most Iranians feel likewise. I hope the Iranian resistance sticks to nonviolent methods, activism and Iran's political process (deeply flawed though it is.) I think Obama should encourage the Iranian resistance to practice Gandhian nonviolence.

I really liked Obama's message. Obama should see what possibilities exist for cooperation with Khamenei.

Another point Anonymous, if you don't think the Iranians are not fuming with the regime about the deep recession; I have got a bridge I would like to sell you.

Anonymous said...

Anand, that was a fair response, fairer than my comments. I am especially upset with President Obama for expanding the war in Afghanistan and making war in Pakistan.

Anand said...

"I am especially upset with President Obama for expanding the war in Afghanistan and making war in Pakistan"

On this we disagree. I am delighted by Obama's Afghan policy. In the most recent national opinion poll of Afghans from February, 2009, 91% of Afghans had a negative view of the Taliban, 91% had a negative view of Pakistan. Obama has decided to side with the Afghans.

Obama is:
- greatly increasing economic aid to Afghanistan
- greatly increasing US funding for the ANA and ANP (to increase the size of the force to 400,000)
- sending many additional soldiers to serve as advisers and trainers for the ANA and ANP.

We (Americans and the world) need to place our faith in the Afghans and to help them win their own freedom.

We also need to help the Pakistanis understand that Afghans and Indians and Jews and Westerners and Russians and Iranians and everyone else is not their enemy. Pakistanis must understand that the world is on their side.

Anonymous said...

"I am especially upset with President Obama for expanding the war in Afghanistan and making war in Pakistan"

"On this we disagree. I am delighted by Obama's Afghan policy."

I understand, as I thought I did from the beginning. I do understand, I do, we have a monster of war, writing as a monster.

Anonymous said...

"We also need to help the Pakistanis understand that Afghans and Indians and Jews and Westerners and Russians and Iranians and everyone else is not their enemy. Pakistanis must understand that the world is on their side."

Notice carefully, the words of a monster of war trying to be clever but being only a monster. We must destroy Pakistanis so that Pakistanis will learn to appreciate...notice the list.

Anonymous said...

"We also need to help the Pakistanis understand that Afghans and Indians and Jews and Westerners and Russians and Iranians and everyone else is not their enemy. Pakistanis must understand that the world is on their side."

Notice the way in which a monster goes about trying to cleverly hide being a monster while pitching for war against more than 200 million people who must be bombed till they learn to appreciate the monsters bombing them.

The list of peoples who must be appreciated, is beyond all parody. So we have removed the mask from the monster. A monster of propaganda, a monster of war.

Anonymous said...

"We (Americans and the world) need to place our faith in the Afghans and to help them win their own freedom.

"We also need to help the Pakistanis understand that Afghans and Indians and Jews and Westerners and Russians and Iranians and everyone else is not their enemy. Pakistanis must understand that the world is on their side."

Monster at play, but I do know a monster even when at play. A monster of propaganda and prejudice and hatred and war. The monster is shown as a monster, all monster.

Anonymous said...

"Khamenei (unelected dictator of Iran) is free to make his choices. America is free to make her choices based on his choices."

I understood the propaganda and prejudice of the monster from the beginning. I am so clever, but who has to be clever in finding a monster?

Anonymous said...

What was especially angering and rightly so, was playing at advising peaceful resistance for Iranians for whom there can be no other alternative and supporting war everywhere else. The game was that President Obama is not about to attack Iran, so peaceful resistance is all that can be advised for Iranians or for Americans or for the French or Japanese of Australians or Brazilians, but for Afghanistan and Pakistan where America will go to war then war is all that is wished.

Playing at being Martin Luther King is a sham when the wish is for war wherever there can be war.

Luis de Agustin said...

The media's tiresome references of President Obama's outreach to Iran as an Iranian rebuff, cold shoulder, snuff, rejection, will change once Obama hazards his administration to a political breakthrough with the Iranians.

Regardless of Iran's cool reaction to his profound message, a determination by Obama to do what has not been dared for three decades of antagonism between the two countries, they will initiate and ultimately reach a resolution of their disputes.

Do these countries really prefer investing in antagonism instead of friendship?

A visit by President Obama to Tehran in 2010? Obama needs only suggest it.

Luis de Agustin

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BF said...

To ALL "Anonymous" contributors

Please note that the moniker "Anonymous" (not to be confused with the literal meaning of this word, namely Nameless) becomes ambiguous when more than one person use it. The situation becomes highly confusing to the readers of blogs in general, and the present blog in particular, when several people choose to present themselves with the moniker "Anonymous".

May I therefore propose that henceforth contributors choose appropriate monikers and keep away from the confusing moniker "Anonymous"?

It may be that "Anonymous" is generated automatically by the system when contributors choose or neglect to use monikers, in which case this process will have to be bypassed by typing a sequence of words and/or numerals in the moniker box, to be used consistently at least in all the subsequent submissions that are to appear on the same page.

BF.

Anonymous said...

BF,

Good idea, and nice initial comment.

KM

BF said...

From this report one can infer that things are moving in the right direction (at least for the moment), a thing to celebrate after eight long years of many lost opportunities for changing the world into a better place.

It should interest the readers of this blog to know that Seymour Hersh has this article in the April 6, 2009, edition of The New Yorker.

Lastly, I am not aware the extent to which people know about the recent documentary by Rick Steves on Iran. Hence the following:

Rick Steves' Iran (the pertinent documentary on YouTube)

Rick Steves: A Perspective on Iran (on FORA.tv)

This is Rick Steves' Iran page on his website.


BF.
___

PS: Thank you KM!

Anonymous said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/world/middleeast/02mideast.html

April 2, 2009

Israeli Minister Dismisses Peace Effort
By ISABEL KERSHNER

In a belligerent speech on his first day as Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman declared that “those who want peace should prepare for war.”

[What war-mongering is really about and not coming from Iran or Pakistan or Afghanistan.]

Anonymous said...

"Iran's offer of help to rebuild Afghanistan heralds new age of diplomacy with the US"

How we wish for a return to open colonialism. This is idiocy, but who knows whether we can convince Iran to help colonize Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Anand said...

What is colonialism? The Afghans don't want to be ruled by the Taliban. Shouldn't the Afghans be get to select their own leaders?

Anonymous said...

"What is colonialism? The Afghans don't want to be ruled by the Taliban. Shouldn't the Afghans be get to select their own leaders?"

Then get the heck out of Afghanistan and let the Afghans select their own leaders. Understand?

Anand said...

Anon, you mean let your fellow ISI and friends in Saudi intelligence decide who should rule Afghanistan?

Shouldn't the Afghans get to choose who rules their country through UN run, one person one vote elections?

Why are so many non Afghans going to Afghanistan to kill Afghans? Why can't they stay in their countries?

Do you jump up and down for joy when ANA, ANP, and Afghans are killed?

Of (ANA + ANP + OEF + ISAF) casualties:
more than 60% are ANA. More than half the remaining are ANA. Total OEF and ISAF represent about a sixth the total.

But then you knew this all along Anonymous. You want the OEF and ISAF out of the way so that you and your people can go and mass murder Afghans; kill their elected leaders, their political parties, their government civil servants, their army, and their police.

Why should foreigners (you know who I mean) get to rule Afghanistan through proxy?

Anonymous said...

"Anon, you mean let your fellow ISI and friends in Saudi intelligence decide who should rule Afghanistan?"

Notice the crazed writing of the monster of war. The monster of war, can only be a monster and employ every possible lie in the service of being a monster. Lie on, crazed monster.

Anonymous said...

Notice the crazed monster of war, the crazed professional propaganist, unmasked after playing at being Martin Luther King or Gandhi.

Anonymous said...

to call Khamanei illegitimate because he was not popularly elected and compare him to Arab monarchs is utterly arrogant. Yes he was not popularly elected but his position is linked to other institutions that are based on elections. How do you know that he would not be able to win an election? if that was the case, people would vote the opposite candidate (the candidate who does not win his support) in the presidential elections. Iran is a system; it is not a democracy but it has strong elements of democracy that are unmatched by any Arab country. Iran is a political system and others are dynasties. democracy vs. non-democracy is not an accurate dichotomy anymore; it is more relevant to discuss if a political entity is a political system or not. China and Iran are not democracies but they are political systems and not run by one-man or family. compare that to Saudi Arabia if you want.

Anand said...

Anonymous, Khamenei decides who can and who cannot run in "ALL" Iranian elections. Every candidate is his candidate.

This said, Iran is more democratic and free than many of the Arab dictatorships. Iran, however, isn't nearly as free as it should be.

Does anyone really believe that Khamenei is "popular." Among Iranians I mean. ;-)

PS. I am delighted that Obama is trying to reach out to Khamenei.

Anand said...

Iraq is far more democratic and free than Iran. So is Lebanon. Nasrallah is far more constrained by the political process and the will of the populace than Khamenei is.

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