Criticism of the Foreign Ministry by IRGC Deputy for 'Poor Use' of Khashoggi Case

On Wednesday, November 2, the Parliamentary Deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reacted to the new sanctions against this institution, urging the Foreign Ministry of Hassan Rouhani's government to take 'good advantage' of the opportunity that arose following the revelation of Jamal Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. Mohammad Saleh Jokar called on Iran's 'diplomatic apparatus' to act 'more precisely, actively, and intelligently' in the current situation and to 'make the world aware that Khashoggi's murder is just one of thousands of crimes by the House of Saud.' Jokar linked the new sanctions against the IRGC and Qassem Soleimani to the case of the murdered journalist in Istanbul, describing these sanctions as tools for 'diverting public opinion.' According to him, 'we should not just monitor and follow world news,' but 'our diplomatic apparatus must inform the world about the various aspects of these crimes, as such crimes are repeated every moment in Yemen and other countries.' Jokar explicitly criticized the Iranian diplomatic apparatus for not 'making good use of this opportunity,' while other countries are effectively benefiting from this issue for their own interests. Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and a columnist for The Washington Post, visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul three weeks ago for paperwork related to his marriage but did not exit the premises. Initially, Saudi Arabia claimed he had left the consulate, but after two weeks, it acknowledged that Khashoggi had been killed in a 'fight and altercation' at the consulate. These remarks from the IRGC official come at a time when the Iranian Foreign Ministry has not yet officially commented on Khashoggi's murder. The Parliamentary Deputy of the IRGC added that Riyadh has 'always silenced dissenters and free thinkers with U.S. support, but the revelation of Khashoggi's murder has drawn public attention to this crime, and today they are under pressure from public opinion and the media.' The Saudi state news agency (WAS) reported that the IRGC, Qassem Soleimani, Abdul Reza Shahlai, and Hamid Abdollahi have been placed on the list of terrorist entities and individuals by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Abdul Reza Shahlai and Hamid Abdollahi were also mentioned in the 2011 'assassination case' of Adel al-Jubeir, the then Saudi ambassador to the U.S. The U.S. and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Qassem Soleimani, Abdul Reza Shahlai, and Hamid Abdollahi in connection with this case. Jokar described Saudi Arabia and Yemen's actions as a form of 'psychological operation' to save Saudi Arabia from the 'quagmire' of the Jamal Khashoggi case, stating that 'Khashoggi's assassination led Saudi leaders to take reckless actions, including placing Haj Qassem and the IRGC on the list of terrorism supporters to divert public opinion.' The Parliamentary Deputy added that Saudi Arabia has engaged in this psychological operation in the region 'following' the Americans. Prior to him, Ismail Qothari, the deputy commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, had stated that this Saudi action is aimed at 'diverting' world and regional public opinion from the issue of Jamal Khashoggi's murder. Iran-Saudi relations have deteriorated further following the deaths of hundreds of Iranian pilgrims in Mina and the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. The two countries are currently confronting each other indirectly in several regional countries, and their leaders address each other in the harshest tones.