Another Attack on the Government and Its Supporters: 'The Poor Say We Don't Want Missiles'

Kazem Sedighi, the interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran, in the third attack by conservative clerics within a week on Hassan Rouhani, called the country's officials 'the poor' who say 'we don't want missiles' and allowed inspections of 'the country's secrets' by 'enemies' during nuclear negotiations with the West. According to Rasa News Agency, Mr. Sedighi stated on Wednesday evening, August 10, at a gathering in Shahrekord, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, that defensive and missile readiness is 'an Islamic recommendation' and added that 'we have started a global revolution and should not sit down.' The interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran criticized those who say 'the poor say we don't want missiles' without naming any specific individuals. It seems his reference is to a tweet attributed to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, which was published on April 4 of this year with the content: 'The world of tomorrow is the world of discourses, not missiles.' This tweet was released after a series of Iranian missile tests that faced severe reactions from the United States and European powers. The tweet attributed to Hashemi was also met with explicit criticism from Ali Khamenei, who on April 11, in a meeting with a group of mourners, stated that 'to say that the world of tomorrow is a world of negotiations, not missiles, if said out of ignorance is ignorance; but if said knowingly, it is treason.' The United States, along with France, Britain, and Germany, called these tests a disregard for the United Nations resolution and asked the Security Council to address it. Kazem Sedighi, in another part of his statements, emphasized the necessity of 'maintaining the country's secrets and preventing enemies from accessing them' and added that 'one of the misfortunes of our officials was that they allowed inspections of all the country's secrets during the nuclear negotiations, which is regrettable.' He criticized that 'our officials do not act Islamically,' called for 'certain readiness to confront the enemy,' and added that after 'collecting and strengthening weapons and equipment, we should not think we have only one front of battle, but we must fight on three fronts: the lesser jihad, the middle jihad, and the greater jihad.' Mr. Sedighi also expressed hope and 'prayed' that 'our officials should look to the Supreme Leader and their religion, not just see the foreigner.' This is not the first time, especially in recent weeks, that hardline conservatives have expressed such rhetoric and phrases about Hassan Rouhani and government officials, which has led to complaints and criticisms of the government. Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader and representative of Ali Khamenei in Razavi Khorasan province, also described Hassan Rouhani as a 'naive' person who believes that Iran has achieved 'dignity' through the nuclear agreement. Hassan Rouhani, the President, on Tuesday, August 2, defended the nuclear agreement reached last summer, stating that the JCPOA brought 'dignity' to Iran, while during the sanctions, 'our hands were always outstretched to others.' Hamid Rouhani, head of the Center for Historical Research and Encyclopedia of the Islamic Revolution, has also recently called for the trial of Hassan Rouhani due to what he describes as 'treason to the country and lies and distance from the leadership.' According to him, 'the Amr ibn al-As of today forced the leadership to negotiate,' and 'the treason that Rouhani committed, Banisadr could not have committed.' The head of the Center for Historical Research of Iran even went further and introduced Hassan Rouhani and his government's thoughts as 'more dangerous than foreign enemies.' Attacks and criticisms of Hassan Rouhani's foreign policy and the 'JCPOA' agreement have intensified again in the statements and positions of conservatives following Ali Khamenei's critical remarks about this nuclear document and America's 'betrayal' in implementing its provisions.