For all the complaints concerning the Iran nuclear deal, the whining of the Iranian hardliners is far more telling about the deal – they hate that they danced with the Great Satan, and looks like they lost. So now they’re looking to take out their frustrations on the Iranian Finance Minister, according to Changiz Varzi in AL Monitor in an article tellingly entitled “Iranian hard-liner alleges FM Zarif is American spy“:
On Dec. 3, Hossein Allahkaram, the head of the coordination council of Ansar-e Hezbollah, a semi-official paramilitary organization, alluded to Iran’s foreign minister being a US spy. On his official Instagram page, Allahkaram wrote, “Some believe that [Zarif’s] exceptional ties with American intelligence entities are undeniable. … Reuters had reported that the phone numbers of American politicians and intelligence officials, such as [Vice President] Joe Biden and [former Secretary of Defense] Chuck Hagel, are saved in Zarif’s cellphone, which [Zarif] hurriedly denied.” Allahkaram’s post continued, “Interestingly, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, in a secret meeting with a high-ranking [Iranian] official, said that ‘according to our information, Zarif is an American agent.’”
Though the reasons for what happened next remain unclear — with some speculating that the Office of the Supreme Leader directly chastised Allahkaram — he subsequently did a U-turn and edited the Instagram post to remove the espionage allegation against Zarif and apologized for “any misunderstanding [he] might have caused.” Yet a screenshot of his original post was widely shared by Iranian social media users, especially on Twitter. One user tweeted, “Is it not a crime to [falsely] accuse [the] FM? Mr. Prosecutor, you have again showed favoritism.” …
[The Reformist Aftab-e Yazd daily] compared Zarif to prominent figures in Iranian mythology, such as Arash Kamangir, and historic political figures, such as Amir Kabir and Mohammad Mossadegh, who are widely hailed for their efforts to fight foreign domination throughout Iran’s history. Aftab-e Yazd added, “Since the nuclear deal was reached, the ‘worried ones’ [the hard-liners opposed to the JCPOA] have been waiting for a suitable excuse to attack Zarif. … What better excuse than the 10-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act? Now is the perfect moment to say that the Iranian national hero is an American spy.”
One wonders if Iran’s major problem throughout history is backbiting. It’s certainly been an American bugaboo for the last 20 years, but before then we were better at acting together when foreign enemies threatened.
