Iran International
The clash over Russia’s role in Iran has reached unprecedented levels, with the parliament speaker publicly attacking a former president and his foreign minister for speaking out against Moscow.
Parliament turned into a battlefield on Sunday as Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and hardline lawmakers accused Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Javad Zarif of “undermining national interests” with their recent remarks.
“I find it necessary to express my explicit criticism of the former president and foreign minister who, precisely as our strategic partnership with Russia is progressing, have damaged this path through their statements,” Ghalibaf declared.
His comments were followed by hardline MPs chanting “Death to Fereydoun” — Rouhani’s family name. Moderates rushed to defend the duo, calling the events in parliament an orchestrated show of loyalty to Moscow.
“Have the Russians made Iranian citizens’ silence toward Kremlin policies a precondition for cooperation?” renowned commentator Ahmad Zeidabadi wrote on social media. “If so, that’s a shameful arrangement.”
‘Edited out of context’
The uproar followed circulation of a short video in which Rouhani criticized UN sanctions from 2010 onward, noting that even Russia and China had supported them.
Moderate outlets accused Rouhani’s critics of selectively editing the former president’s remarks, publishing what they said was the full version.
“He not only did not make insinuations against Russia … but also supported strengthening relations with Moscow and Beijing during his own terms,” Khabar Online wrote in a Monday editorial.
Rouhani was criticizing former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the editorial asserted, and Ghalibaf would have known this if he had not relied on “bulletins handed to him.”
Rouydad 24 — another moderate website — called the speaker’s remarks “odd for someone of his rank,” linking the controversy to a public dispute between Zarif and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov had branded the so-called snapback clause of the 2015 nuclear deal a “legal trap,” saying it was secretly arranged between Zarif and then–US Secretary of State John Kerry. Zarif later rejected that claim and accused Moscow of blocking Iran’s ties with the West.
‘Most-despised figure’
The confrontation quickly spilled onto social media.
Hesamoddin Ashna, a security adviser close to Rouhani, wrote on X: “It’s not wise to read aloud every paper that’s handed to you. As far as we know, Mr. Rouhani has made no recent statement about Russia.”
Foreign-policy journalist Hadi Mohammadi argued that Ghalibaf was misdirecting his anger: “Mr. Ghalibaf seems to have forgotten that it was the Russian foreign minister who began this … But attacking Rouhani is always less costly.”
Hardline lawmaker Amirhossein Sabeti hit back with harsh personal jibes at Rouhani.
The former president, Sabeti wrote on X, is “the most despised politician in Iran” for the bloody suppression of the 2019 fuel protests and carries a “delusion of higher office” — a reference to speculation that Rouhani hopes to succeed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
‘Power struggle’
Rouhani has shown markedly increased public activity after years of silence, especially in the months since the June war with Israel. He recently criticized low voter turnout in the 2020 parliamentary election, where Ghalibaf secured only 4.4 percent of Tehran’s vote.
“How can such a parliament claim to speak for 80 percent of the people?” Rouhani asked in a public statement this month.
Observers see the attacks as part of a broader power struggle.
“It’s a fight for a bigger share of the emptied pockets of Iranians and the country’s wealth,” journalist Jamshid Barzegar told Iran International.
The episode underscored how Moscow’s influence has become both a symbol and a fault line in Iran’s power struggle.
