Supreme Leader's Daily Calls Two-State Solution ‘Treason’
The firebrand Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the flagship Khamenei-funded hardliner newspaper Kayhan, decried talk of a two state solution in the Palestine-Israel conflict.
The firebrand Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the flagship Khamenei-funded hardliner newspaper Kayhan, decried talk of a two state solution in the Palestine-Israel conflict.
In a rare moment in which a regime representative speaks of Israel in its internationally accepted name, rather than 'the Zionist entity' as is standard, he said: "The only solution is to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth and from the world map."
He also said anyone supporting such a solution to the Middle East's most intangible conflict, was committing "treason and complicity in Israel's crime".
The provocative stance from Kayhan comes in the wake of Iran's recent acceptance of the two-state solution, a move that appears to have irked the ultraconservative elements in the country.
Last week, an ultraconservative lawmaker initiated impeachment proceedings against Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, accusing him of "weakness in playing a central and effective role" in addressing the Gaza conflict. The war has become the most bitter conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas since the designated terror group took control of the strip in 2007 following a Hamas invasion on October 7 in which 1,200 mostly civilians were murdered and around 240 more were kidnapped to Gaza.
Mahmoud Abbaszadeh-Meshkini, a member of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, questioned the shift in discourse, stating, "How is it that until recently, the goal was to eliminate the Zionist regime, but now the discourse has shifted."
The two-state solution proposes an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, aiming to address the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, disputes over borders persist, particularly regarding Israel's withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967, a demand rejected by Israel.
Iran has traditionally maintained a public position advocating for the annihilation of Israel as a state, rejecting any two-state agreement. Despite this, on October 27, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for a "humanitarian truce" in Gaza, which Iran voted in favor of.
While hardliners within the Iranian regime continue to call for the destruction of Israel and express eagerness to engage in the Gaza conflict, the top leadership has been cautious, avoiding direct involvement in spite of its funding Hamas over $100 million a year and supporting it with military aid.
The party held its general assembly at a mosque in Tehran this week where Aqa-Tehrani asserted that Paydari is not seeking to monopolize power. This is a claim many politicians in Iran would readily dispute based on the party's actions in the past few months. Many politicians in the inner circles of the ruling elite have argued that Paydari is behind the political "purification" project which aims to purge the Iranian political landscape, to ensure monopoly on power by ultraconservatives.
Paydari is also one of the main contestants in the upcoming parliamentary elections and despite Aqa-Tehrani's claim of not seeking dominance, it is fiercely fighting other groups to win the lion's share of parliamentary seats. This behavior has even annoyed an insider in Khamenei’s inner circle, former Majles Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, who accused Paydari of "radicalism".
According to Khabar Online website, Aqa-Tehrani, who is currently the head of the Cultural Committee of the Majles and has been the driving force behind the law to restrict Iranians' access to social media and the Internet in general, said at the party's general assembly that the party takes pride in promoting the restrictions. He argued that "Islam has certain rules for better utilization of social media," while Islamic precepts were formed hundreds of years ago.
He also said that his party has been behind the law to criminalize and ban abortion. He further claimed credit for helping the government in circumventing US sanctions. Although he did not present any evidence other than saying that he took part in an inter-parliamentary meeting in Africa, yet it is widely known in Iran that "circumventing sanctions" could mean money laundering and financial corruption, sometimes through acting as private companies that sell Iran's oil at a discount in unofficial markets.
Quoting the founding father of Paydari, the late Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, the cleric said: "Mesbah made it clear upon that Paydari Party’s fundamental principle should be Velayah (rule by the Supreme Leader). He went further by quoting ayatollah Mesbah as having said that “People should be absolutely obedient to the Supreme Leader."
A video exists on social media showing Ayatollah Mesbah trying to kiss Khamenei's feet before a meeting as a token of his absolute obedience. Khamenei, however, prevented him from doing so.
Mesbah said many times during the past decades that the Supreme Leader is appointed by God, not appointed, or elected by the people. Aqa-Tehrani said: "Based on that, we should see what the Supreme Leader wants and then we should obey him and defend him against seditionists.
This can be a hint as to why Khamenei facilitated Paydari’s success in the 2020 parliamentary elections by allowing his loyalists in the Guardian Council to disqualify many other candidates.
Reports say that Mesbah Yazdi's son, Mojtaba, was also present at Paydari Party's meeting and offered guidelines to party leaders and members. Khabar Online website in Tehran wrote with a latent sarcasm that "Mojtaba followed the footsteps of his father." He said any intelligent movement needs a roadmap, a leader and a guide. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offered the roadmap for the Islamic revolution and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is leading it.
Reformist commentator Sadeq Zibakalam commented that as a result of the disqualification of non-conservative candidates and political purification, even fewer Iranians will vote in the upcoming election in March 2024 than the previous election which set an all-time record in low turnout in Iran.
This week, Iranian media reported that the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (SCCR) has chosen to rename certain events on the official calendar of the Islamic Republic, including the festivals of Yalda and Charshanbeh Souri, both of which predate the Islamization of Iran in the 6th century AD.
The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, comprising several appointees of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is tasked with neutralizing external cultural influences and ideologies, particularly Western, and ensuring that education and culture align with Islamic values.
Social media users vow to celebrate the two festivals "with even more splendor" in defiance of the regime. They have also shared numerous jokes about the lengthy and irrelevant new names assigned to their cherished festivals.
They have also highlighted the regime's past attempts to erase the country's history by renaming numerous streets, buildings, and even cities and provinces, like Shahi and Kermanshah, often due to their association with the monarchy and the deposed royal family. However, most people have persisted in using the old names until now.
"At the end of the day, we will still call these occasions Yalda night and Charshanbeh Souri. Are they going to install CCTV and bring in their plainclothesmen to our homes to make sure we are not doing so?" one of the many tweets about the renaming of festivals said, reflecting the sentiment surrounding the renaming of the festivals.
For over four decades since the early years of the Islamic Revolution, the religious establishment and Islamic revolutionaries have opposed the celebration of ancient festivals, including Nowruz (Persian New Year). Instead, they have sought to substitute them with Islamic calendar events such as Eid al-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha, Mab’ath (the beginning of the Prophet Muhammad’s mission), and the birthdays of the Prophet and Shiite Imams.
Most Iranians, even many religious families, however, have not forsaken their beloved ancient festivals and continue to celebrate them alongside religious occasions.
The first of the two festivals renamed by the Council, Yalda, also known as Chelleh Night, traditionally takes place on the longest and darkest night of the year.
This Winter Solstice festival has been observed by Iranian peoples and others in the region since ancient times. People come together at home to enjoy special foods, play music, read poetry, tell fortunes, and engage in various customs that vary across regions.
The SCCR has now renamed the day as the "Day of Promotion of the Culture of Hosting and Connecting with Relatives."
The second festival, Charshanbeh Souri, celebrated on the evening of the last Tuesday of the year just before the Nowruz holiday on March 21, involves similar customs of food, music, fortune-telling, poetry recitation, and the distinctive tradition of lighting small bonfires on the streets and jumping over them.
The hardliner religious establishment, in particular, strongly disapproves of the practice of lighting fires during Charshanbeh Souri. To them, this act evokes memories of the pre-Islamic religion of Iran, Zoroastrianism, where the lighting and tending of fire played a significant role in worship rituals. They view this association with fire as a form of paganism and consider it as "worshipping of fire."
The Council has decided to rename Charshanbeh Souri as “Day of Honouring Neighbors”.
Sizdah-be-dar, celebrated on the 13th day of the Persian calendar (April 1/2), is another ancient festival with uncertain origins cherished and observed by most Iranians, despite disapproval from the religious establishment. This festival, during which everyone leaves their homes to picnic in the open air, was renamed "Nature Day" years ago.
The public's reaction to the renaming of the two festivals was so strong that the Council's spokesman, Abbas Mirza Hosseini, had to deny the removal of the names of ancient festivals from the official calendar. He claimed that the new names were only complementary and emphasized the "national identity and Islamic-Iranian culture and civilization."