Iran Hawk Nikki Haley To Jump Into 2024 US Presidential Race

Former head of Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Heshmatollah Falahatpish told local media: "If it were not for the issue of sending Iranian drones to Russia to be used in the war in Ukraine, Europe was highly unlikely to ratify a resolution against Iran."

Falahatpisheh, who is one of the few domestic critics still allowed to speak to print media, further said he is worried that Iran might become the second front in Russia's war against Ukraine.

The conservative pundit explained that Europe and the United States had agreed [in March 2022] on two matters – Iran upholding its nuclear commitments and the West reducing sanctions imposed, but at the last moment Russian negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov said that Russia cannot take part in implementing the agreement because of US sanctions on Moscow.

"Later Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia would sign the agreement only if all of Russia's nuclear, trade, and military dealings with Iran are exempted from the sanctions. This led to an impasse and the talks were suspended," Falahatpisheh said.

Meanwhile, in an interview with moderate proreform Rouydad24 website, Falahatpisheh charged that some Iranian officials behave in a way as if they are paid to speak against Iran's national interests.

He added that "Statements made by a group of people who have no knowledge of foreign policy have only led to a catalogue of threats against Iran." He was probably referring to individuals such as ultraconservative presidential aide Saeed Jalili and his likeminded allies in the parliament particularly ultraconservative Paydary Party members who staunchly oppose the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal or effectively any agreement with the United States.

Meanwhile, accusing the Islamic Republic of weakening the political elites, Falahatpisheh charged that "Some of Iran's politicians have no proper definition of the government and mainly believe in running the country's affairs like a militia. They have no understanding of the concepts of government, development, international relations, détente, international economy and other political concepts. They do not care what will happen to the next generation of Iranians as a result of Iran's isolation. And that is dangerous."

Falahatpisheh argued that many of the sanctions against Iran are the outcome of such a political approach. "While Iran owns two third of the Persian Gulf waterways and it should naturally attach high importance to the waterway's security, some members of parliament and others threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz. The current situation of Iran and its isolation is a legacy of this kind of grandstanding."

He also said that measures such as sending drones to Russia leads to the IRGC being listed as a terrorist organization in the West rather than the Russian army.

In a related development, Ahmad Bakhshayesh, another former member of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said in similar remarks that "The Iranian government believes creating a foreign enemy will lead to solidarity inside the country.”

Referring to the recent drone attack on a military installation in Esfahan, Bakhshayesh said: "Benjamin Netanyahu creates foreign crises as a way of dealing with political divisions inside Israel." Meanwhile, he charged that "the attack was done by Israel from the Republic of Azerbaijan as part of Israel's confrontation with Iran as a country that harasses Israel by its presence in the Golan Heights and its support of the Lebanese Hizballah."

Bakhshayesh added that Iran has recently armed [its proxy groups] in the West Bank, in an area only 15 kilometers away from Israel. He characterized this action as "creating permanent tension" in that region.

Ebrahim Fayyaz, a professor of sociology at the University of Tehran, said in an interview with Rouydad24 website that enmity with “knowledge and particularly humanities” has made academic and research institutions useless. He said the demographic situation in Iran has made it difficult for the country's rulers to keep the society under control, and it is going to be even more difficult as we go further.

As an example, he said: "We did not consider the rules of the global game when we started to sell drones to Russia. As a result, Russia took advantage of us because our foreign minister did not know how to protect the country’s interests."

Iran has supplied hundreds of kamikaze drones to Russia which have been used against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, angering the United States and Europe.

Fayyaz warned that there is no room for trial and error in International diplomacy, but this is what Iran is doing constantly. He said: "We should have defined our foreign policy with the help of the academia. But unfortunately, our government does not want to interact with the universities. Our officials want to talk. They do not want to listen to others."

"Under the circumstances," he said, "the university does not have anything to do with the government, and the government does not take the universities seriously. The government thinks that thanks to the oil money at its disposal, it no longer needs the university. This situation pushes the universities into the opposition's lap."

Fayyaz also criticized the state television for dictating the official views to the interviewees and asking them to repeat the party line. He said: "The rulers should follow men of knowledge and not vice versa." He added: I have been barred from appearing on TV because I wanted to say what I think, not what the government wants me to say.

Fayyaz's statements was so similar to what some Economists such as Moreza Ezzati, who has said, "public interest is not a priority for the government," and politicians such as former lawmaker Gholam Ali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi who regrets that "There are no wise and educated individuals around President Ebrahim Raisi."

Imanabadi has recently charged in an interview with Nameh News that the Iranian President has given big jobs in his cabinet to day dreamers and naïve individuals. Instead, he has removed a lot of wise, highly skilled, expert and well-educated individuals from their posts.

"The situation will be like this as long as national interests are not among the priorities of top officials and they make their decisions based on their biases and grudges and give opportunities to radical elements devoid of wisdom," Imanabadi argued.

"The only thing these officials can do is criticize former officials and blame them for all the problems that have been created recently." He added: "Even the Taleban in Afghanistan have realized that they need to talk with America if they want to solve their problems, but Iranian officials ignore obvious realities. At the same time, they fabricate their own figures to pretend that the country is on the course of progress. Raisi recently made so many claims…all contradicting the Central Bank and the Statistical Center's official figures."

Stating that general dissatisfaction in Iran is at a record level, Imanabadi said that Raisi should set aside factional differences and bring back the experts to the government. Referring to Raisi's frequent analogy about the "train of progress," Imanabadi said: "Where is this train? It either does not have a driver to steer it, or it has been derailed."

The country’s parliament is trying to fiddle with existing laws to make the measures seem in accordance with the constitution. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has given his blessing, trying to sell the idea as long overdue, which should have been guiding principle in the early years of the regime. 

The shady privatization plan, which is promulgated to improve the generation of wealth and production in Iran, has been met with a lot of skepticism by the public, who have seen corrupt “privatization” in the past 15 years, when state properties were sold at ridiculously low prices to well-connected individuals.

The clerical regime – struggling with domestic unrest and grappling with rising inflation on the backdrop of global isolation – is in desperate need of money. People are terrified that the plan is the Islamic Republic’s last-ditch effort to liquidate public assets to keep itself afloat. 

On Monday, Ali Khamenei met with a group of businesspeople urging them to help kickstart the country’s economy. He stressed on the necessity of economic growth to reduce the hardship people face.

Khamenei, who almost never acknowledges the country’s problems and always blames the “enemies” for everything, said that Iran is at least a decade behind in its economic development. Calling for the privatization of industries, he said important mistakes were made in the early years of the Islamic Republic by making all major economic sectors run by the government.

"The country will not be run without the activities of private enterprises, and these enterprises will not engage in such businesses without the support of the government, and if they do, they will not be successful,” he added. 

Iranian media and economic experts are characterizing the privatization plan that officials keep vague as "a plunder of public property" and "economic apartheid." 

According to reports, the new privatization plan approved by the heads of the three powers of the government, President Ebrahim Raisi, Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei bars critics of disclosing details of transactions and suspends for two years all legislation that might prevent these transactions.

The transactions are going to take place under the supervision of a seven-man team, comprised of Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Roads Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, Planning and Budget Chief Massoud Mirkazemi, and two representatives of the Parliament Speaker and Judiciary Chief, who are not appointed yet. The members of the taskforce are said to have absolute judicial immunity. 

Critics say that secrecy and immunity will give way to financial corruption as the seven-member board has the right to determine the prices for the transfer of assets to the private sector. 

In an article on Monday, Rouydad24 website labeled the move as “putting on auction the people’s properties,” elaborating some of its “horrible” points. The article said that the move is one of the most questionable decisions ever approved by the country’s leaders. 

“It has never happened in the history of Iran that seven people make decisions for the entire capital and future of a nation without being accountable for anything,” read the article. 

One of the clauses of the resolution gives the group the power for two years to overrule all laws and regulations that are already in place to block the sale of public properties. It means the current administration is coordinating with other branches of the government to suspend all current laws to do whatever it wants, fueling speculations that the government predicts it would not be able to stay office in the next election. 

Gholam Ali Jafarzadeh, a former lawmaker, has said that such an extrajudicial taskforce may be justified during wartime, asking what strange thing has happened now that justifies such a decision. 

The article described the long list of the public assets that are to be sold as “frightening,” especially because the government doesn’t have information about the exact value of the assets. “What is more frightening is that the properties are supposed to be sold without legal formalities,” it added. 

Asked If he would acknowledge that the two-year diplomatic effort has failed, Malley said, “Diplomacy never ends as we do other things,” adding that the Biden administration has added sanctions, tried to contain Iran in the region and “mobilized the international community.”

However, he acknowledged that relations with Iran have worsened since the Biden administration came to office and started indirect talks with Tehran in April 2021.

The negotiation ended in deadlock in September, as US said Iran presented “extraneous” demands.

Pressed to acknowledge if the 2015 nuclear accord known as the JCPOA is dead, Malley avoided a direct answer, saying that Iran “turned down multiple opportunities to end this crisis…so you could reach your own conclusion.” He reiterated that the US is willing to continue talks with Iran “to reach a diplomatic outcome.”

Following the brutal and deadly suppression of protests in Iran many US politicians and Iranian activists have demanded an official end to the talks aimed at reviving the JCPOA, abandoned by former President Donald Trump in 2018.

Iranian activists have been demanding Malley's resignation, seeing him as an advocate of unending talks with the Islamic Republic, instead of opting for more pressure.

Malley reiterated that diplomacy is still the priority for the administration and a military option is only “a last resort,” apparently meaning to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. He added that the military option “is a very difficult option, a very dangerous option that President Biden would not engage in cavalierly.”

On the issue of how long the administration is willing to continue diplomacy with Iran when a point comes that it seems useless, Malley confirmed that the US has been sending “messages to Iran, but let’s not overstate,” and call it negotiations. He insisted that the US needs to convey messages, including about possible consequences if Iran supplies ballistic missiles to Russia.

When asked, Malley did not deny an Iran International report recently that he held three meetings with Iran's ambassador at the United Nations.

Asked if expanding close US and Israeli military cooperation and large joint military exercises are aimed at sending a message to Iran, Malley said these steps are designed to show that the US “has Israel’s back and we will work with Israel,” on protecting shared interests. He also said the drills aimed to demonstrate that regardless of what is happening in Europe “we could do other things, we could mobilize to defend our interests.”

In responding to a question if the administration is “compartmentalizing” its policy toward Iran, in terms of separating the nuclear issue from the gross violations of human rights, Malley said, “There is a degree to which we have to, in the sense that we can do two things,” support the people in Iran and defend the US national interest in not allowing Iran to go nuclear. He added “there is no contradiction between these two.”

The US envoy also defended the administration’s efforts in supporting the protest movement in Iran, citing frequent statements by President Joe Biden and his top officials and mobilizing international support to expel Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women in December. However, Malley reiterated that US “is not in the business of regime change.”

Malley praised the convergence of positions with Europe regarding Iran and said Tehran had a clear choice of returning to its obligations under the JCPOA, and to stop supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine. He added that US is not asking something “tantamount to surrender” but a “realistic choice, which is in their hands.”

According to reports, the new privatization plan approved by the heads of the three powers of the government, President Ebrahim Raisi, Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei bars critics of disclosing details of transactions and suspends for two years all legislations that might prevent these transactions.

The government's plan is to make 1,080 trillion rials out of selling public assets presumably to well-connected regime insiders. In current exchange rates the sum is close to $2.7 billion.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has approved the sales and wants them to be done as soon as possible. The transactions are going to take place under the supervision of Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Roads Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, Planning and Budget Chief Massoud Mirkazemi, and a representative appointed by the Majles Speaker and Judiciary Chief each.

Mokhber is an influential operator who has held positions in business interests controlled by Khamenei's office. When he was appointed Raisi's top aide in 2021, political analysts saw the move as Khamenei placing his trusted man in control of the new president's office.

Committee members have already received immunity from any prosecution resulting from privatization transactions. Critics say that the secrecy and the immunity will give way to financial corruption. The ratification leaves no room for transparency and accountability.

Economic experts including Mehrdad Pazouki have already warned about the unpleasant consequences of this type of privatization. Political commentator Abbas Abdi has called the arrangement "unacceptable.”

Iranian lawmaker Ahmad Alirezabeigi has said that some members of the parliament have questioned the legitimacy of the action in a letter to Ghalibaf as one of the three officials who have suggested the sale of government properties. Nonetheless, Ghalibaf has not responded to the question yet, Alirezabeigi said.

Referring to the potential financial corruption involved as a result of secrecy, he warned that "This is auctioning public property and reminiscent of what happened in previous privatization measures."

In an interview with Khabar Online website, Pazouki said that it should be made clear where the resulting money is ging to be spent." Pazouki who is a professor of Economics at the Allameh Tabatabai University also said: "Transparent reports about the sales should be put at the nation's disposal." He said privatization is a very good thing, but it is important how it will be done. Pazouki added that the government should spend the resulting money on development plans.

Referring to the fact that during previous privatization projects government assets have been distributed among well-connected individuals, Pazouki said that properties should be sold by tender where everyone can bid to buy them. He added that the Ministry of Defense, the Planning and Budget Organization and local government offices have a large portfolio of real estate in Tehran and other cities which need to be sold within the frameworks of this project.

Meanwhile, the head of a government chamber of commerce, Gholam-Hossein Shafei had said in 2021 that the private sector in Iran has been dealt a bad hand by politically well-connected elites who took advantage of privatization to enrich themselves.

The head of the Iranian Privatization Organization, Hossein Ghorbanzadeh, had said last year that the government sought to solve its budget deficit and liquidity issues through privatization of state properties and companies but cannot do so because it does not exactly know their value.