The Iranian Media Reacts to Geneva

With the next round of Geneva negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 looming, Iran’s press is divided.  On one side, mouthpieces of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and Combatant Clergy Association of Tehran, slammed the Iranian concessions. On the other side, outlets generally supportive of Rouhani charged France with sabotaging the last round of talks.

Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the hardline Kayhan and unofficial spokesman of the Supreme Leader, hammered the Rouhani government for “bringing to halt a considerable part” of Iran’s nuclear activities, and charged the negotiators of having been susceptible to “Satanic temptations of the disciples of the American/Israeli sedition of 2009 [the Green movement which protested the fraudulent 2009 presidential election].” Threateningly, Shariatmadari likened the negotiators to those who “betrayed the Islamic fatherland,” and boasted that, “the great Iranian nation dealt a heavy blow to the mouth” of these “seditionists.” The hardliner concluded that, “With the influence they command in the peripheral layers of the esteemed cabinet, one can imagine that they have new acts of treason on their minds.”

Reza Garmabedari, columnist for the IRGC mouthpiece Sobh-e Sadeq, urged Iran’s negotiators “not to act in a hasty manner, and not pay attention to Obama’s threats.” Garmabedari called upon the negotiators to “stop the game” when it becomes clear that “Iran’s decisive interests are at risk.” Similarly, an editorial from Resalat, a mouthpiece of the Combatant Clergy Association of Tehran, questioned the wisdom of trusting the United States government and derided the idea of friendship with Washington as “absurd.”

Jomhouri-ye Eslami, largely associated with former president Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, attacked France for sabotaging the Geneva talks. Likewise, Etemad, a mouthpiece of reformist politician Mehdi Karrubi, attacked France under the headline: “Bibi’s chocolates: Gift to the Rogue of Geneva.” Reformist newspaper Aftab-e Yazd accused France of “ingratiating itself with Israel,” and Mohammad-Sadeq Kharazi, former ambassador to France, urged the French government not to “miss the opportunity.”

Kayhan, Sobh-e Sadeq, and Resalat’s critique of Rouhani’s nuclear diplomacy is hardly surprising, but the lack of overt support from the more moderate press may be telling. Indeed, the reformist newspapers have attacked France, but have certainly not thrown their weight behind Rouhani, himself. This may indicate that even Rouhani's supporters question whether a deal can be reached in Geneva that is acceptable to Khamenei and the IRGC. If the deal fails, the hardliners could initiate a witch-hunt for “traitors” who supported Rouhani’s nuclear diplomacy. 

Ali Alfoneh is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.