In its March 16, 2017 editorial, Kayhan, the mouthpiece of Iran’ ideological stream, attacked the policy of the pragmatic camp, namely the Rohani government and especially the Iranian foreign ministry, who call for dialogue with the U.S. and the Trump administration on the grounds that such dialogue is necessary to avoid an American war on Iran. Kayhan argued that an American war has been raging for several years now on Iran's western, eastern and southern borders, and that Iran has been involved in managing this war on the Iraqi, Syrian, Lebanese and Yemeni fronts. These fronts constitute "a natural continuation of the Islamic Revolution." The paper stressed that "our forces are engaged in intense fighting in Syria and Iraq that America and its agents have imposed upon us."
Kayhan stated further that those calling for dialogue with the West and the U.S., especially in the foreign ministry, are "liars" who present a deceptive picture of America's true intentions, for revolutionary Iran has never stopped being a target of American hostility, as evident from the fact that the U.S. has even increased its sanctions on Iran lately. The Rohani camp, it accused, opposes Iran's hegemonic expansion in the region and "Iranian power," and urges Iran not to draw attention to its strength in the region and its military-technological capabilities, and even to retreat on the nuclear front by relying on the West to supply it with nuclear technology, in order to resolve its conflict with the West. According to the paper, the pragmatic camp is therefore even worse than Iran's Western enemies, because the latter respect Iran's superior status in the region while the pragmatists regard "Iran's great achievements in the region" as a source of danger. Kayhan defiantly asked the pragmatic camp: "A real war is currently raging against Iran's power and honor in the region and in the lands of the resistance, and the pure children of Iran have set forth [to meet it]. What have you done to make sure that this conflict ends with a victory for our front?"
The following are excerpts from the article:[1]
"When [elements from Rohani's camp] say, 'We must adopt a policy that prevents war, otherwise we will pay a heavy price,' they go too far in [their] incitement and disregard reality. In some cases this is accompanied by spreading lies, because the war they speak of preventing is [already] taking place in the region and on Iran's western, eastern and southern borders, and Iran is its main target. Iran itself is involved [in the fighting] on these [battle] fronts in various ways...
"For a long time now – and especially in the post-JCPOA climate and after [Rohani's camp] has been forced to admit that the West does not realize its commitments – they have been telling us that we are at a crossroads [and must choose between two options]: war with the world or cooperation with it. Logic dictates that we should choose cooperation with the world, and as part of this cooperation we must think of agreements that will prevent a war against Iran and the [expansion] of the regional war into Iran.
"After Trump's election these people reiterated [their] previous claims, saying that Trump is an unpredictable man who makes imprudent decisions, and therefore it’s better to avoid saying anything that he will be offend by. Today they take it one step further, saying that there are [actually] indications that it is possible to negotiate with Trump and reach an agreement with him. Therefore we must maintain a mild diplomatic and media climate on the issue of relations with America in order to reach an agreement on regional issues...
"But the Americans talk and act in the opposite manner. That is, the Americans – whether Democrat or Republican, whether in the Senate and Congress or in the administration, both in the Obama era and in the Trump era – never [really] thought of an agreement with Iran and never promoted it, and judging by [our] experience with the JCPOA, what they want is an Iranian capitulation. So even if Iran stops its policy that strives for independence – which will weaken it considerably – it will never achieve an agreement with America [but only capitulation], which will embolden the enemy.
"Some political figures [in the Rohani camp] try to justify such a capitulation by saying that 'war [awaits] us'... [At the same time,] they also say that Iran is no longer in America's and Europe's crosshairs and that other issues have taken its place; therefore, reason and logic dictate that we should avoid taking any steps that will place us back in America's and Europe's crosshairs and make us the world's number one issue again. From these people’s perspective, Iran has gradually ceased being [a target of] hostility on the part of America, Europe and their followers... [But] if we ask these people what evidence [they have] for this... they will have nothing to present... except interpretations... [The fact is that] all the evidence and proof indicates that the Islamic Revolution and Iran's religious regime still are, and always will be, the main problem for America and Europe. America's sanctions on Iran persist, and in the last two weeks Iran has once again been labeled 'the axis of evil' as part of the ban on the entry of Iranian nationals to America. In the region, too, America focuses on forces that coordinate with Iran, [and] all these are just examples...
"Some of these people, who participate in so-called experts’ meetings, claim that Iran's policy that strives for regional hegemony will not benefit Iran because it will place it at the focus of threats and harm. They add that we must take a realistic view of Iran's capabilities, that instead of thinking of an 'Iranian region' we should think of 'Iran in the region,' and that Iran must realize that no country can establish itself as a hegemonial power. [But] actually, it is a lie [that we are pursuing such a goal], because if 'hegemony' means tyranny and imperialistic [rule] over other nations, then this is forbidden by the principles of the [Islamic] Revolution and of the [Iranian] regim’s policies, and Iran has so far taken no steps in this direction. The truth is that the West, the East and the regimes that follow them do not have a problem with our hegemony, because they know Iran is not pursuing such [a goal]; their problem is with Iran's power. The fact is that these people inside Iran oppose Iran's important demand for hegemony and want to negate Iran's power, and therefore inside Iran they attack anything that justifies Iran's power and anything that creates a position of power for Iran, thereby trying to weaken it. They take the obsolete view that Iran cannot manufacture even a clay washing jar for the bathroom and that it must withdraw from its scientific path and leave scientific [development] to Western countries, while [Iran] will be a customer for their industrial products...
"Regional issues are a source of pride for Iran. But in this matter [these people] demand of Iran [exactly] what [its enemies] America, Europe, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and others are demanding – but with one big difference, namely that America and the others greatly respect Iran's status and acknowledge it in their statements. But they [the Rohani camp] call Iran's great regional achievements 'scorched earth' and 'harmful hegemony'... They want to hand [these achievements] over to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel and America for nothing.
"These people claim that we must implement any measure to prevent Iran from becoming embroiled in a war, and here too there are two big lies. The first is their claim that America and the rest do not want to fight us, and we should not bring on a war that does not exist [yet]. [But] the truth is that this war against Iran started a long time ago, in 2012, and it is still actively continuing. To realize this simple fact it is enough to look at the war in our region... in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. These are countries that are considered allies of Iran, not of America! Which countries, sects and groups are the target of the intense war going on right now? These are [fronts] that constitute a natural continuation of the Islamic Revolution, not [areas controlled by] the front of arrogance [i.e., the U.S.]!... At a time when every Iranian town has graves of 'martyrs [killed defending] the holy places', and while our forces are still involved in intense fighting in Syria and Iraq which America and its agents imposed on us and on our beloved Iranian people, how can [the Rohani camp] claim that we are not in the enemy's sights, and that there is no war and we must not do anything to bring one on?
"The second lie is that they describe themselves as a force that opposes war and prevents it, but when you look at the evidence on the ground you find that [they are proponents of] compromise and superficial thinking about war. The same thing also happened in Syria and Iraq. The governments of these countries initially thought that [the events] were not the result of a conspiracy, but eventually they became embroiled in an intense war...
"We must ask these people: A real war is currently raging against Iran's power and honor in the region and in the lands of the resistance, and the pure children of Iran have set forth [to meet it]. What have you done to make sure that this conflict ends with victory for us?..."
[1] Kayhan (Iran), March 16, 2017.
