Khamenei man praises attack on Israel amid talk of ‘new foreign policy’

One after another, Republican members of Congress and several former officials and diplomats took aim at the Biden administration’s approach to China, Russia, and Iran, arguing that the Democrats’ policies since 2021 have made the US unsafe and weakened its position on the global stage.

Walking out to long applause, Newt Gingrich, the high-profile former Speaker of the House, lent his support, speaking of Trump’s understanding of global dangers and anti-US forces. He emphasized the need for "peace through strength," and contrasted what he says are Trump's realistic policies as opposed to Biden's weaknesses and appeasement.

Gingrich specifically warned about Iran, describing it as a religious dictatorship chanting "death to America" and nearing nuclear capability. He argued that Biden's policies have failed to address this and other threats, whereas he deemed Trump's firm approach necessary to ensure strength and peace in a “dangerous world.”

Former White House official and 2016 Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway also spoke in Milwaukee touting Trump's achievements such as taking out ISIS leaders al-Baghdadi and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ notorious military commander Qassem Soleimani and ending the ISIS caliphate.

Conway argued that "weakness emboldens adversaries," underscoring the importance of Trump's strong stance on national security and foreign policy. Addressing those who claim they want Trump's policies without his personality, Conway remarked, "Good luck with that. We don’t get those policies without that personality."

On the point of appeasing Iran, the Biden administration has often countered the accusations by listing what it calls robust sanctions against hundreds of Iranian entities and individuals aimed at curbing Iran’s military capabilities and support for terrorism.

J.D. Vance took to the stage, and officially accepted the nomination as Trump’s VP, with his speech primarily focused on his challenging upbringing in Ohio, his military service, and the economy. Vance criticized Biden’s policies, arguing they lead to the US being flooded with “cheap Chinese goods.”

Vance also highlighted what he saw as a failure of President Biden, from open borders to stagnating wages, and insisted allies must share the burden of securing world peace. Trump’s running-mate concluded, "Together, we will send our kids to war only when we must. But as President Trump showed with the elimination of ISIS and so much more, when we punch, we're going to punch hard."

Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell’s speech criticized what he called “years of neglecting US priorities”.

"We spent too many years ignoring US priorities, when Washington stopped being the capital of the US and started being the capital of the world." He highlighted that under Trump, historic peace deals were signed in the Middle East, namely the Abraham Accords, and that Iran was economically weakened, and China was challenged.

Grenell also noted there were no new wars and old wars ended. In contrast, under Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine, the Taliban regained power, ISIS members slipped through the southern border, China bullied its neighbors, and Iran waged war in Israel and Gaza with Biden’s help.

Democrats however, have often argued that Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Tehran during his time as President backfired by pushing Iran to ramp up its nuclear program and increasing regional instability. Rather than bringing Iran back to the negotiating table, after Trump exited the Iran nuclear deal, they claim the approach led to heightened tensions and more frequent attacks on US troops by Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East​.

Additionally, $16 billion in frozen funds were released to Iran under the Biden administration for reported humanitarian purposes like food and medicine, as critics argue that this indirectly supports Iran's military and proxy activities by freeing up other resources.

Yet, Republicans say that the Biden administration’s inadequate enforcement of sanctions has pushed Iran's oil sales to soar significantly. Since Biden took office, Iran's oil exports have risen from around 300,000 barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day, primarily due to increased sales to China. This increase in oil sales has generated approximately $80 billion for Iran, providing substantial financial resources to support its military and proxy groups across the Middle East, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

Another member of Congress, Nancy Mace, from South Carolina warned that China, which is watching America closely, supports enemy states like Iran which oppresses its own people -- in particular its women.

Michael Waltz, the Congressman from Florida, praised Trump's tenure, stating, "Under Trump, we had a president who defeated ISIS, broke Iran, stood with Israel, always stood with our allies, made China pay… you didn’t see any spy balloons under President Trump, did you? He deterred Russia."

Waltz further criticized the current administration’s focus on other issues, saying, "What do we have today… he's focused on pronouns and renaming bases."

Dr. Ronny Jackson, a congressman from Texas, Navy veteran, and former combat physician in Iraq, also spoke. As Donald Trump’s physician, Jackson criticized President Biden’s leadership, stating, "China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran do not respect Joe Biden’s 10am - 4pm schedule."

He argued, "There is simply too much at stake for someone who can barely shuffle to the podium. For the security of the country, every second Biden stays in the White House, the country becomes less safe." Jackson asserted that under Trump, America will restore its standing on the world stage.

Several military veterans also sharply criticized Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, with one veteran calling it a "moral injury" and describing it as a "dark chapter" in American history. They emphasized the chaos and harm caused by the withdrawal, highlighting its negative impact on both the military and the nation’s global standing.

The council for transition formed to search and propose ministerial candidates is a new phenomenon in Iranian politics, apparently designed to show the public that President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian wants to remain true to his campaign promise of using experts to address critical issues.

At the same time, Zarif announced in a July 17 tweet on the social media platform X that committee members may not contact their nominees for the cabinet anywhere outside the committees' official meetings. If they do contact the nominees directly, that would be tantamount to the committee member's resignation.

The initial list of 16 members of the main strategic committee consists of 16 ‘reformist’ figures including Zarif himself, former Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei, Pezeshkian's campaign manager Ali Abdolalizadeh, reformist academics Hadi Khaniki and Mohsen Renani, former Minister of Economy Ali Tayyebnia, former Culture Minister Reza Salehi Amiri and former Reformist lawmakers Ali Tajernia and Ali Shakouri-Rad.

A more comprehensive list released later includes 25 members of the main committee with 3 women on board and the addition of Former ITC Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, former Central bank Governor Abdoh Tabrizi and former presidential aide Shahindokht Molaverdi among others.

The committee members will lead their own subcommittees to determine various ministers. Each subcommittee, comprising up to 25 members, is tasked with nominating between 3 to 5 potential cabinet ministers. In total, hundreds of individuals will be involved in selecting candidates. Nonetheless, Pezeshkian’s aides have been criticized for including a very limited number of women in these committees. There is only one woman, a librarian, in the main committee. Another criticism is that nearly all of the members of all committees and subcommittees come from the reformist camp.

According to Zarif's tweet, if any committee or subcommittee member is nominated for a ministerial post, should immediately step down as member and should be immediately replaced by a new member.

The nominees will be introduced to Pezeshkian, who will make the final choice for his cabinet ministers. However, there are many exceptions to these rules. For instance, traditionally up to six of the cabinet ministers are directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, although this is not stipulated by law. These ministers include those of Defense, Intelligence, Interior, Culture, Oil, and Foreign Affairs.

However, according to Iranian Constitutional Law, the President is responsible for appointing all 19 cabinet ministers and several vice presidents. However, political observers, including Iran analyst Mehdi Khalaji, note that only President Akbar Rafsanjani was able to independently appoint all his cabinet ministers during his first term in office.

Regardless of how many ministers are directly chosen by Khamenei, the President gives the full list to him for his review before giving the names to the parliament (Majles) for its vote of confidence to the ministers.

According to the main function of the committees is to convince the majority who did not take part in the elections that the ministers will be chosen in a more or less democratic process and although the President represents a small number of eligible voters, his cabinet will be more representative. Khalaji however added that even many reformists are not represented in the committees. Those who are, are exactly the same groups that supported Pezeshkian in the election.

Meanwhile, reformist cleric Rahmatollah Bigdeli who is close to Pezeshkian has said that no committee member should be nominated for any post in the government to avoid conflict of interest.

The attack occurred at the Sufi lodge of Sheikh Azad in Saqqez on Wednesday night, resulting in the deaths of two men identified only by their first names, Peyman and Parviz.

The head of the Kordestan (Kurdistan) Province Judiciary stated that the attackers have been identified, and a judicial case has been filed. "Efforts are currently underway to apprehend them," Hossein Hosseini said.

Although Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, is not illegal in Iran, rights groups accuse the Iranian government of systematic harassment and discrimination against its followers, including the Gonabadis, one of the largest Sufi sects. While the Gonabadi Dervishes identify as Shi'a Muslims, Iran’s Supreme Leader and other influential figures dismiss their beliefs as “false mysticism.” As a result, Amnesty International says Gonabadi Dervishes have been subjected to systematic discrimination and harassment, in spite of the sect not being deemed illegal as other minority religions are under the Islamic Republic.

The rights group has seen cases of arbitrary arrests and detentions, imprisonment, flogging sentences, and attacks on the group's sacred sites.

While the Abrahamic faiths, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, are legal under the Islamic Republic, according to the latest International Religious Freedom report by the US Department of State, Iran has persistently oppressed Sufis, extending its campaign of repression even to members of the community living abroad.

Iran has supplied thousands of Shahed-136 "kamikaze" drones to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022. They have been used to exhaust Ukrainian air defences and hit infrastructure far from the front lines.

Polish prosecutors confirmed in an email that they were investigating the possible export of dual-use products manufactured in Poland without mentioning Iran.

Poland, a NATO member, has been one of Ukraine's biggest supporters, both under the previous nationalist government and Donald Tusk's current pro-European administration.

However, according to Radio Zet, a Polish company belonging to the Industrial Development Agency was selling fuel pumps which ended up in Iranian drones.

According to Radio Zet, WSK Poznan sold parts to Iran Motorsazan Company, which produces agricultural tractors, but the pumps ended up in Iranian factories producing military unmanned aerial vehicles, which were then purchased by Russia.

It said the issue had been investigated by the Internal Security Agency (ABW) which notified the prosecution.

In its emailed statement, the prosecutor's office said it was "conducting proceedings regarding the export from Poland of products manufactured in Wytwornia Sprzetu Komunikacyjny Poznan sp. z o.o. being dual-use products without the legally required permit of the Minister of Development and Technology."

As part of the ongoing investigation, the CEO of the company at the time was charged with selling products of strategic importance without appropriate clearance, it said, facing up to 10 years in prison.

The ABW, Industrial Development Agency, State Assets Ministry and the company did not immediately reply to Reuters' requests for comments.

(Reports by Reuters)

In the letter titled "Why Didn't I Vote but Kept Silent?" published on Tajzadeh’s social media channels Wednesday, he provided a detailed analysis of why he boycotted the elections.

"The current crises are rooted in the flawed political and legal structure of the regime and the poverty-inducing, corruption-breeding, and obstructionist policies of the Leader," wrote Tajzadeh.

Tajzadeh further pointed to Khamenei holding the utmost power in the context of the Presidential elections process.

Iran’s presidential candidates go through a vetting process by the 12-member Guardian Council all of whom directly and indirectly are appointed by Khamenei. Their role in supervising elections and approval or disqualification of candidates extends beyond presidential elections to Parliamentary elections and Iran’s Assembly of Experts elections. Moreover, the Council has veto power over legislation passed by the Iranian Parliament.

“In any society, the concentration of authority and its lifelong transfer to one person makes elections meaningless, the government and the parliament ineffective, and the judicial system a tool to suppress critics and legal opponents," Tajzadeh added.

One of the handpicked candidates for Iran's presidential race, Masoud Pezeshkian was declared the winner on July 6 becoming the country’s ninth president.

Tajzadeh stated that if Khamenei's policies remain unchanged, he expects president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian to encounter the same challenges as Hassan Rouhani did during his second term. Rouhani served as Iran’s President from 2013 to 2021 across two consecutive terms.

In 2015, under Rouhani Iran reached a nuclear deal - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with several world powers, including the United States, which limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for International sanctions relief. However during Rouhani’s second term, in 2018 former President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal marking the beginning of what he termed 'maximum pressure' sanctions on Tehran.

Tajzadeh added: “Rouhani's second administration failed due to three reasons: the [Supreme] Leader's opposition, his own mistakes, Trump's maximum pressure and America's withdrawal from the JCPOA.”

He further criticized Khamenei's foreign policy, stating that the Supreme Leader's decisions have placed Iran at the forefront of a conflict with Israel and imposed heavy, avoidable costs on the nation through unnecessary anti-Americanism.

Meanwhile, throughout his campaign, Pezeshkian has maintained that he would be following the policies of Khamenei. In this light, Tajzadeh criticized Pezeshkian stating: “I find the attempt to implement the guidelines and policies of Mr. Khamenei to be the continuation of the status quo and complicity in the atrocities and corruption of the government.”

Tazjadeh stated that Khamenei changed his election strategy from 2017 onwards and instead of "maximum participation with an unknown result", he adopted the strategy of "minimum participation with a guaranteed result."

More than 60% of eligible citizens did not participate in the first round of presidential elections, and over 50% abstained from voting in the runoffs.

Tajzadeh outlined three conditions for justified participation in elections: meaningful competition, a citizen participation rate above 50%, and the ability of elected candidates to fulfill their promises. He stated that none of these conditions were met in the recent elections.

Tajzadeh’s letter comes following his boycott of the snap presidential elections alongside 100 other political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi and former MP Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, daughter of former two-term president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

While many dissidents inside Iran called for the boycott of the elections and abstained from participating, Tajzadeh refrained from urging the nation to boycott.

In his letter, the former advisor to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami explained his rationale for not calling for a boycott.

“I remained silent and did not urge anyone to abstain from voting because I did not want to hinder the progress of Pezeshkian's election campaign and his supporters, especially Mr. Khatami who believed that despite the election engineering, this time, unlike in 2021, the victory of a candidate critical of the status quo was within reach.”

He further added that he didn't want to “disappoint friends” who view Pezeshkian being allowed to run for the presidency as a step forward. He added that while he hopes this development is positive, he remains skeptical about Khamenei.