Rouhani's Criticism of the Revolutionary Guard Provokes Response from Armed Forces General Staff

The statements of presidential candidates during the live televised debate on Friday, May 5, led to numerous reactions, criticisms, and denials, including criticism directed at President Hassan Rouhani by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran. Hassan Rouhani, Eshaq Jahangiri, Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, Ebrahim Raisi, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Mostafa Mir-Salim criticized each other while discussing political and cultural issues, presenting statistics and comments that elicited responses from other institutions and individuals. In this debate, Rouhani stated that 'the division of society undermines the security of society' and criticized the actions of the Revolutionary Guard during the nuclear negotiations aimed at disrupting the nuclear agreement known as the 'JCPOA' with six world powers. He remarked, 'Wherever we succeeded, it was where we were united; we were together; we were able to utilize the JCPOA where we were united. Where we wanted to disrupt the JCPOA, we saw what they did; they came and showed how they displayed underground cities to disrupt the JCPOA; they wrote slogans on missiles to disrupt the JCPOA; so that we could not use it 100 percent.' Rouhani's reference was to the display of missile silos by the Revolutionary Guard on Iranian television and the writing of the slogan 'Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth' in Hebrew on one of the tested missiles. This statement provoked a response from the General Staff of the Armed Forces, with spokesman Massoud Jazayeri stating on Friday evening that 'candidates in the twelfth presidential election should avoid entering into contentious military issues' and, according to him, 'providing incorrect addresses to the people.' According to Fars News Agency, he added, 'The enhancement of the Islamic Republic's missile capabilities is in line with the overarching policies and strategies of the system and... the existence of underground and missile bases is considered an important deterrent factor against the attacks of the sworn enemies of the Islamic Revolution and the Iranian nation.' In the fall of 2015, the Revolutionary Guard unveiled its first 'missile city,' and the commander of its aerospace force at that time stated that Iran's long-range missile bases 'are located 500 meters deep under high mountains' and 'are ready to confront threats from enemies in all provinces and cities.' The Guard unveiled Iran's 'second missile city' in January of the same year. Another controversial topic was Mostafa Mir-Salim's remarks about restrictions on nuclear activities, 'the expulsion of nuclear scientists,' and the concrete pouring in the Arak heavy water reactor. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran reacted by calling these statements 'surprising' and stated that 'thousands of centrifuges are currently enriching; something that the ruling body of the United States, particularly Obama, did not expect.' The organization also labeled the expulsion of Iranian nuclear scientists as 'incorrect' and provided statistics indicating that 'the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has over 14,000 personnel in official, contractual, project, and corporate forms; no scientist or official employee has been expelled during the eleventh government.' The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance also denied Ebrahim Raisi's quote from the Minister of Economy regarding 'lack of banking cooperation with other countries post-JCPOA.' In a statement published by IRNA, the ministry stated that 'what the Minister of Economy has repeatedly emphasized is the establishment of banking and correspondent relations with banks of other countries, including the EU member states.' The Iranian Foreign Ministry also described the statements of candidates opposing Rouhani's government regarding the JCPOA and sanctions as 'incorrect and one-sided claims about the JCPOA' and emphasized that 'all sanctions that were supposed to be lifted based on the JCPOA have been revoked and halted; some obstacles and problems that still exist in the banking sector are due to sanctions and issues that are outside the JCPOA.' According to IRNA, the Iranian diplomatic apparatus states that 'all oil revenues and financial resources that were blocked due to nuclear sanctions have been released and are available to the Central Bank; moreover, the revenues from oil sales are fully available to the country and are being used appropriately.' The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance also responded to Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf's remarks about the development of cinema and theater halls in Tehran by the municipality, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development responded to Mostafa Mir-Salim's comments about throwing a microphone at a journalist, former Tehran Mayor Morteza Alviri responded to Qalibaf regarding 'the employment of ethnic groups in municipal management,' and the Ministry of Welfare responded to Mir-Salim regarding his claim about the increase in divorce rates during the eleventh government.