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Spotlight: Rouhani Return Marred by Fighting & Hard-Line Protesters
President Rouhani returned to Iran to praise from across the political spectrum, after his five days in New York and at the United Nations.
Rouhani’s stay was marked by his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, by a series of press conferences and interviews putting his case for “engagement”, and by an advance in nuclear discussions with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif joining representatives of the 5+1 Powers.
The visit concluded dramatically as Rouhani was on the way to the airport, with a 15-minute phone call with President Obama. It was the first direct contact between US and Iranian leaders since 1979.
Even before the phone call, Rouhani was winning plaudits in the Tehran Friday Prayer from Ayatollah Emami Kashani:
Peace is Islam’s doctrine and, therefore, the President’s statements in New York were spreading God’s message.
Two points are introduced in the matter of jihad: Sometimes jihad occurs with military defense but sometimes jihad is political. In certain statements this is true, and this is what the Supreme Leader meant in his heroic flexibility speech.
Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer-Qalibaf also gave credit to Rouhani, although he made sure that the Supreme Leader took most of the acclaim:
The heroic flexibility approach is the same approach of continuing the road of jihad and interaction through a position of strength. In reality, the heroic flexibility approach is continuing that same heroic battle of the Sacred Defense [the 1980s Iran-Iraq War] in the diplomatic organs….
Today, the administration possesses valuable capital with the support of the people’s vote at hand, with the management of the Supreme Leader in the country’s political environment, and in the diplomatic environment with the Supreme Leader’s blessing, which we must optimize.
Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Saffar Harandi said Rouhani’s UN speech was “reasonable and logic-based“.
At the same time, the head of the Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, reminded Rouhani that continued support rested on Iran maintaining its strength and position in negotiations:
Heroic flexibility means that we do not deviate in any way from our principles, but rather that within a framework of our principles and based on the true line of the Revolution, we will speak and defend our rights.
(Hat tip to Iran Tracker for quotes)
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Picture: Protester Charges Rouhani Car On Return To Tehran
About 75 protesters were among the hundreds of Iranians who greeted Hassan Rouhani on his return from New York. Some threw eggs and shoes at the President:
See Spotlight: Rouhani Return Marred by Fighting & Hard-Line Protesters
Video: Military Unveils Attack Drone
A different PR effort in Tehran on Friday, as President Rouhani was promoting “engagement” in New York — the military, led by Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, was displaying the Shahed-129 attack drone:
Head of Revolutionary Guards: 2009 “Sedition” Was More Serious Than 1980s War With Iraq
President Rouhani may have the high ground right now in his political battle with the Revolutionary Guards, but Guards Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari fired a warning on Friday over Rouhani’s call for steps such as the freeing of more political prisoners.
Jafari invoked the menace of the mass protests after the 2009 Presidential election:
The biggest threat to the Islamic Revolution after the Imposed War [1980s Iran-Iraq War] was the Sedition.
I was both in the war and the Sedition, and the front was far heavier and more serious to the Revolution in the Sedition than the war.
Karroubi Press Outlet Denies Opposition Leader Was Temporarily Freed
Saham News, the outlet of detained opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, has denied that he was temporarily released on Friday.
A claimed message and photograph from Karroubi’s son showed the former Speaker of Parliament and 2009 Presidential candidate on a sofa, surrounded by family members.
Karroubi, along with fellow opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, has been under strict house arrest since February 2011. His release is seen as one of the test cases for the Rouhani Government as it promises political and social change in Iran.
