The Controversies Surrounding Pezeshkian's Trip to Iraq; Users: Iran's Politics Has Become Khamenei's 'Theater of Puppets'

The controversies surrounding the first foreign trip of Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of the 14th government of the Islamic Republic, and his verbal slips, from admitting his lack of expertise in diplomacy to seeking approval from Khamenei's deputy and his son-in-law accompanying him on the trip to Iraq, have sparked significant reactions on social media. On Wednesday, September 12, Pezeshkian traveled to Iraq for his first foreign trip as the President of the 14th government of the Islamic Republic. Ahead of this trip, after a speech at Tehran airport, he turned to Mohsen Qomi, the Deputy for International Affairs at Khamenei's office, and said, 'They force us into diplomacy that we do not know,' and then, while the camera and microphone were still on, added, 'I didn't mess up too much, did I?' Some users interpreted these remarks as a sign of Pezeshkian's 'incompetence' in politics, while others described it as 'inappropriate humor.' One user commented that 'the political scene in Iran has become a place for puppet theater,' with Khamenei as the 'owner of the pond.' He referred to Ebrahim Raisi, the former president who died in a helicopter crash, as 'Heli-Ketlet,' who played the role of 'Haji' in these puppet shows, noting that Pezeshkian is also 'playing the role of Firouz.' Another user stated that the reformist faction of the Islamic Republic 'is going for this level of incompetence and admitting it,' saying, 'This level of simplicity and incompetence is gradually becoming embarrassing.' In Pezeshkian's first official trip, instead of being welcomed by the President of Iraq as a political counterpart, the Prime Minister of the country received him, which also drew reactions from users. Veteran journalist Amir Taheri noted on social media that Iraqi officials showed by this act that Pezeshkian does not hold the position of the presidency. Pezeshkian also referred to Iraq as 'our second homeland' during this trip, a remark that triggered many reactions on social media. Journalist Amir Hadi Anvari recalled that Ebrahim Raisi had also said, 'Iraq is our homeland,' and pointed out that this time Pezeshkian stated, 'Iraq is truly our second homeland,' while emphasizing that during the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, '190,000 Iranians were killed, and 672,000 were injured,' and these are just the minimum statistics. Another citizen raised the question, 'Is there any other president in the world who considers another country their second homeland during a visit?' emphasizing, 'Iraq cannot be our second homeland, Mr. Pezeshkian!' Another controversy surrounding Pezeshkian's trip to Iraq was the presence of his son-in-law, Hassan Majidi, whose image during a meeting with the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was published on the presidential website and later removed, but was shared multiple times by users and media, provoking widespread reactions, especially from supporters of the conservative faction of the Islamic Republic. Journalist Esfandiar Zolghadr addressed Pezeshkian, stating that his 'selection' is a result of the people's disgust with nepotism in previous Islamic Republic governments and urged him not to tie the fate of the government to 'son-in-lawism.' Another user mentioned that Pezeshkian has 'divided tasks among his family members, with his daughter attending internal government meetings and his son-in-law attending external meetings,' while another citizen emphasized, 'We have gone from Hassan Rouhani's son-in-law to Masoud Pezeshkian's son-in-law.' European-based journalist Amir Kalhor also noted that in addition to Pezeshkian's son-in-law attending the trip to Iraq, two administrators from two reformist news channels also went to Iraq and are expected to accompany him on the trip to America. This journalist emphasized, 'Benefiting from the revolution's table sometimes looks like this. Everyone takes their share and sits somewhere. A dispute for forty-some years.' Before the trip to Iraq, Masoud Pezeshkian stated that he was going to Iraq in line with Khamenei's policies to expand relations with neighboring countries. In his first action in Baghdad, he visited the site where Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed and then met with the President of Iraq, Abdul Latif Rashid. He also called for 'removing borders between Islamic countries' during this trip.