Khamenei: A Rational Challenge is Less Costly than Compromise

On Sunday, June 4, Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, stated that both challenge and compromise entail costs, but a rational challenge is less costly than compromise. In remarks commemorating the anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian leader said that 'challenging great powers has costs, but compromising with them also has costs.' He added that 'the Saudi government, in order to compromise with the new U.S. president, has to spend more than half of its financial reserves to serve U.S. goals and desires.' This was a reference to a recent arms deal worth over $100 billion signed between Saudi Arabia and the United States, which has even raised concerns among Israeli officials. Although the U.S. government has emphasized its commitment to Israel's military superiority in the region, Khamenei concluded that compromise also has costs and that if a challenge is 'rational, logical, and confident,' its costs are significantly lower than those of compromise. These remarks come as the Islamic Republic's insistence on pursuing certain regional and international policies, including its controversial nuclear program in recent years, has led to Iran's isolation in international circles. The pursuit of the controversial nuclear program in Iran, which ultimately led to the Vienna nuclear agreement after nearly two years of negotiations, imposed a series of 'stingy economic sanctions' on Iran that, although halted after the Vienna agreement, continue to affect Iran's economy and have compelled Iranian officials to pursue a plan known as resistance economy. While figures like Hassan Rouhani have expressed that engaging with other countries can help overcome the lingering effects of sanctions, Rouhani emphasized during his electoral campaign that 'if the people vote and the leader wants,' his government would also pursue the lifting of other sanctions. On Sunday, the Iranian leader advised the country's officials not to 'submit to bullying and not to be deceived by powers,' adding that if they retreat in the face of them, 'new demands will be raised,' and these demands will not cease. Khamenei then stated that, in his view, 'revolutionary spirit means that the country's officials do not make it their goal to satisfy the arrogant powers.' This statement contrasts with what Hassan Rouhani has said regarding the message of the people's presence in elections for continued 'engagement with the world.' In these remarks, the Iranian leader also referred to the conditions of the country in the 1980s during Khomeini's leadership, saying, 'To those who think and judge about the 1980s, I recommend that the roles of martyr and executioner should not be reversed.' He added that in the 1980s, 'the Iranian nation was wronged, and terrorists, hypocrites, and their supporters, along with the powers that created them, wronged the Iranian nation.' These comments come as, after decades of silence among officials and domestic media regarding the mass executions of the 1980s, especially the executions of 1988, the release of an audio file from Ayatollah Montazeri, the then-deputy leader of the Islamic Republic, criticizing this incident has once again resonated in the media among the survivors of these executions and human rights activists. Montazeri had described some of the decision-makers of the executions, including Mustafa Pourmohammadi, the current Minister of Justice, and Ebrahim Raisi, a principlist candidate in the recent elections, as 'the greatest criminals in the history of Iran.' Raisi's candidacy in the recent elections has once again made his involvement in the 1980s executions a hot topic, and although he tried not to respond to criticisms in his campaign, Rouhani took various opportunities in the last week of the election campaign to remind that 'the people do not accept those who have issued 38 years of prison and execution sentences.' However, in describing the approved candidates in the recent elections, Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and Iranian Nobel laureate, stated that none of them have a commendable human rights record. Another part of Khamenei's speech on June 4 addressed the recent presidential elections. In this regard, Khamenei described the participation of over 40 million people in the elections as a sign of approval and trust in the Islamic Republic system, stating that there may be 'those who are dissatisfied with the system,' but when they vote within the framework of the system, it means 'they consider it effective.' The Iranian leader also said that although the Guardian Council has confirmed the validity of the elections, 'they announced and we have also received reports that violations occurred.' He clarified that although these violations do not affect the election results, 'a violation is a violation, and officials should seriously pursue it and identify the violators so that such violations do not occur in various elections.' The issue of electoral violations has been raised several times by Ebrahim Raisi, the defeated candidate in the elections, who has even called for an investigation into the 'engineered' violations in the elections after the Guardian Council confirmed the validity of the elections. Meanwhile, Raisi, who was a senior judicial official during the controversial 2009 elections, had severely criticized the protesters who believed there were 'engineered violations' in the election results and called for action against them. However, in his remarks on Saturday, Khamenei criticized 'immoralities' and 'accusations against some institutions' during the election campaign but stated that 'the past is the past, and it should not continue.' This year's electoral competition witnessed severe disagreements among candidates, especially in social and economic areas, and candidates did not refrain from exchanging accusations during the debates. Now, however, Khamenei advised both those whose candidate won in this election and those whose candidate did not win to show 'capacity and patience.' In this regard, he referred to the 2009 elections and accused the protesters of not showing capacity, which caused problems for the country. Khamenei also stated that the president 'has many resources available in the country according to the constitution' and urged the government to prioritize production and employment, 'without delay in fulfilling promises.' Previously, in a message on the occasion of the elections, Khamenei mainly referred to demands from the government that were previously mentioned by the rival candidates of Rouhani during the election campaign; issues such as 'consideration for the weak classes,' 'attention to villages and poor areas,' 'priority in dealing with corruption and social harms,' and 'youth work and effort to solve problems.' Khamenei emphasized that the government must 'make the country resilient' against U.S. sanctions because the Americans 'with complete audacity' create a new tune every day. He stated that in global issues, 'a single voice should be heard from the country' and 'various voices should not be heard from officials.' The Iranian leader then referred to the 'great problems of Muslims' in Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, and Libya, criticizing Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen, saying, 'The Saudi government will not succeed over the Yemeni people even if it continues this method for another 10 or 20 years.' He also called Saudi Arabia's presence in Bahrain 'illogical' and stated that the problem of Bahrain should be solved through 'the people of Bahrain talking with their government.' Khamenei expressed that regarding Syria, he believes 'the presence of foreign countries is against the will of the Syrian government and people, and the issues of this country should also be resolved through dialogue.' He then expressed the opinion that 'in Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen, and everywhere in the Islamic world, enemies are instigating proxy wars.' Iran, which is accused by some Arab countries, including Bahrain and Yemen, of interfering in regional affairs and has tense relations with Arab countries for this reason, has always described its support for Yemeni rebels and Bahraini protesters as spiritual. Regarding Syria, Iran claims to believe in dialogue among Syrian groups to resolve the years-long conflict in that country. In this context, Iran had previously claimed that it only assists the Bashar al-Assad government in advisory capacities, but after the casualties of Iranian forces in Syria increased, it claimed that its military presence in that country is 'at the invitation of the legitimate Syrian government.' Iran's military presence in Syria has raised concerns among Arab countries, Israel, and Western countries, and according to Iranian officials, over a thousand Iranians have been killed during the Syrian conflict. The Islamic Republic describes its forces in Syria as defenders of the shrine, but most of these forces have been killed not in Damascus, where the shrine of Sayyida Zainab is located, but in areas like Aleppo, which is a major battleground between Assad's supporters and Syrian opponents.