Praises Zarif’s “Wise” Remarks

Sobhe Sadegh weekly run by the political office of the Revolutionary Guards posted a story praising Mohammad Javad Zarif for his interview comment that “nobody is imprisoned in Iran for his views” while at the same time expressing displeasure for the foreign minister’s congratulatory message to the new Saudi Arabia foreign minister.

Speaking to American TV talk show host Charlie Rose, Zarif said, “We do not imprison anyone for his views” in Iran adding however that those who commit a crime cannot hide behind covers such as “being a journalist or being a political activist.” The weekly said Zarif was “realistic” in his remarks and defended the country’s national interests and its judiciary, “for which he deserved appreciation.” The story said that at the same time, the Revolutionary Guards viewed Zarif’s congratulatory to the new Saudi foreign minister.  In an earlier article Sobh Sadegh, which operates directly under the supervision of the supreme leader, had written that there was no need to congratulate the new Saudi foreign minister because of what it’s author called “the crimes” Saudi Arabia was committing against the people of Yemen. Over four weeks ago Saudi Arabia began an air campaign against Houthis in Yemen who had forcefully driven out the president of the country, collapsing his government.

A general in the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Bagherzadeh also strongly criticized Zarif’s congratulatory message and characterized the al Saud family of Saudi Arabia as “criminal.” Addressing Zarif, the commander said, “If I knew that you were going to send such a message to Saudi Arabia, I would have asked you to send it along with the bodies of three Yemeni martyrs who recently died in a Tehran hospital after receiving serious injuries because of Saudi bombing. We have till now failed twice in returning these bodies to their homeland.”

Ayatollah Khamenei’s editor at Kayhan newspaper also criticized Zarif’s message to the Saudi foreign minister and said it indicated that Rouhani’s administration had distanced itself from the defined principles and basis of Iran’s foreign policy. He wrote that even from a diplomatic perspective the letter did not make sense.

Zarif’s message comes at a time when relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran are at their lowest and deep differences exist in the way each country deals with the on some of the major contentious issues in the Middle East such as Syria, Yemen, the self-proclaimed Islamic State, and the price of crude oil exports.  Saudi Arabia opposes Bashar Assad’s regime and the Houthi’s in Yemen while Iran has been openly supporting Assad through military and political cooperation and reportedly the Houthi’s through the supply of arms.