Analysis: Iran's hard-liners try to tarnish Obama's image

A popular, credible US president who talks about peace and wants to talk?

By MEIR JAVEDANFAR
obama wins 248.88 (photo credit: AP)
obama wins 248.88
(photo credit: AP)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has great admiration for his own fortune-telling capabilities. For years, he has been making all kinds of predictions. Among his most famous are the destruction of Israel and the end of the "US empire." In March 2008, he made another prediction. "They would not allow Obama to become the US president," the Iranian president declared confidently in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais. This new failure in his clairvoyance has probably disappointed the president. Nevertheless, he took the time to congratulate the man he thought would never become US president by saying, "Teheran welcomes basic and fair changes in US policies and conducts." He added what is obviously his idea of helpful advice: "I hope you will prefer real public interests and justice to the never-ending demands of a selfish minority and seize the opportunity to serve people so that you will be remembered with high esteem." Despite this message, the conservative hard-line camp in Iran is worried about the overwhelming enthusiasm and support for the US that Obama's election has created around the world. A popular American president who talks about peace and wants to negotiate with Iran would take away their justification for leading the anti-American front in the Middle East. Furthermore, increased international support and credibility for the United States represents a more serious challenge to Iran, especially if the international community initiates new sanctions against Teheran. All this while oil prices are falling. This is why efforts are already efforts under way in the Iranian press to tarnish Obama's image. "A hawk in a dove's outfit" is the way the right-wing newspaper Keyhan described Obama in a front page article the day after his election. The article puts special emphasis on what it calls "Obama's praise of America's actions in Afghanistan and George Bush Sr.'s war in Iraq." It goes on to say, "Obama has never been peace-seeking." Jomhuriye Eslami, another right-wing newspaper, has gone a step further. It headlined an editorial, "That Black Man Will Never Change US Policy." It went on to say that despite Obama's victory, US policy will remain the same because of "the structure of the American regime, which was established by capitalists, Zionists, and racists." In other words, Obama's victory won't change the fact that, to Iran's leadership, America remains a racist state controlled by Israel. More important to note is that the leading protagonist in the media assault against Obama seems to be Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Keyhan and Jomhuriye Eslami are the two newspapers closest to him. This is a strong indication of how worried Iran's leadership is. However, not all parties and individuals in Iran see Obama as a threat. The reformists take a very different view, as indicated by Ebrahim Yazdi, the secretary-general of the Freedom Movement of Iran. He sees Obama's election as an opportunity. In an interview with the Teheran-based IR Diplomacy publication, Yazdi called on Iran's foreign policy establishment to declare openly that "Iran is prepared to negotiate unconditionally with America over issues such as current disputes in the Middle East, and bilateral differences... If the government of Iran undertakes such an initiative, it would be positive for relations between Teheran and Washington, and the international community as a whole." Even moderate conservatives in Iran seem to be willing to give Obama a chance. Tabnak news, a leading moderate conservative news agency, published a piece which quoted a US soldier telling CNN that Obama is "an angel rescuing [America] from hell." Obama's election has even been used for satirical purposes. In one spoof report by Shahab News, which is close to Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, it was reported that former Iranian presidential candidate Ayatollah Mehdi Karrubi had contacted Obama on the night of the election, telling him "not to sleep a wink." Karrubi's "suggestion" was based on his own bitter experience. On the night of the Iranian presidential elections of 2005, he was leading Ahmadinejad before he went to sleep. By the time he woke up, Ahmadinejad had beaten him. This article originally appeared in PJM Media. Meir Javedanfar is the co-author with Yossi Melman of The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran. He runs Middle East Economic and Political Analysis (Meepas).