Hamid Abutalebi, Advisor to Hassan Rouhani: "All the Misery that has Fallen on Iran Comes from Russia"

The political advisor to Iran's former president harshly criticized Tehran's foreign policy towards Moscow, stating that in modern Iranian history, "all the misfortunes and misery that have befallen this country have come from Russia." According to Khabar Online, Hamid Abutalebi said that Moscow destroyed Iran in the United Nations and the Security Council to make Tehran a partner in its sanctions and dragged the Islamic Republic into the Ukraine crisis with drones. He then raised several questions regarding Russia's historical approach towards Iran, asking: "Which country in the world, apart from Russia, has occupied our capital? Should the Iranian nation pay for Russia's costs? Where was Ukraine our issue? We had very good relations with Ukraine." Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, considers Russia a close partner of his government and has hosted Vladimir Putin in Tehran multiple times. He has also supported Putin's war against Ukraine and blamed the West and NATO. Abutalebi, without naming Khamenei, remarked: "They say NATO is expanding! Have we just become neighbors with NATO? The largest NATO military base in Turkey has been our neighbor since before the revolution. Suddenly, NATO became our issue? NATO's expansion is towards the Russians! Should we defend Russia? Do the Russians defend us?" A few days ago, he also attributed the main internal problems of the country to Tehran's incorrect foreign policy, stating that the Islamic Republic is experiencing strategic confusion. According to Hamid Abutalebi, national interests have lost their place in the country's foreign policy. He stated that the structures and agents lack the capacity to resolve the crisis of strategic confusion.