Zarif Describes U.S. Policy for Regime Change in Iran as 'Delusional'

Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reacted to the announcement of U.S. policy supporting regime change in Iran, calling it 'delusional' and 'failed.' On Thursday, June 15, he attempted to respond to his American counterpart, Rex Tillerson, in a series of tweets, reminding him of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S. that led to an agreement between the two countries, stating that 'negotiation is the only solution.' Tillerson had said a day earlier that the U.S. policy is to support a peaceful transition of power in Iran, marking a shift from the policies of former President Barack Obama, who had pursued negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Zarif tweeted: 'American officials should study history and learn from it before returning to the illegal and delusional regime change policy... The disgrace of the 1953 coup and the experience of the 1979 revolution proved that the Iranian people resist foreign efforts to determine their fate.' The U.S. is accused of orchestrating and supporting the coup of August 19, 1953, which led to the fall of the nationalist government of Mohammad Mossadegh and the return of Mohammad Reza Shah to power. This event has cast a shadow over relations between the two nations ever since, and Zarif's tweet refers to it. He wrote: 'After decades of pursuing the failed regime change and sanctions policy, the U.S. government was forced to apologize for 1953 and accepted that negotiation is the only solution.' In 2000, Madeleine Albright, the former U.S. Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, implicitly apologized for the events of August 19, but the matter never reached the point where Washington issued a formal and direct apology. Zarif's tweets also referenced the recent presidential election in Iran, where he considered the over 70% participation of eligible voters as a sign of their trust in the Islamic Republic. The Iranian Foreign Minister wrote: 'For Americans, it is better to think about preserving their own regime in the U.S. instead of considering regime change in Iran, where 75% of the people trust the ballot box.' In this presidential election, the main competition was between Hassan Rouhani, the current president, and Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi and a member of the four-person committee that executed political prisoners in 1988. Many political activists describe their vote for Rouhani as a 'no' to Raisi and extremist forces, but the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and some other figures in the Iranian government emphasize that all their votes are votes for the ruling system of the country.