COLOMBO : The Iranian Ambassador Hashem Ashjazadeh in Colombo outlined the reasons for the political unrest in his country in a special statement made to Colombo Times on Friday,
As Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Sri Lanka, what is your view regarding the current situation of political unrest in your country?
The unfortunate passing of a young woman while in police custody is bitter and painful news for the Iranians. In the aftermath, many of our people and top officials, including the President himself, demanded a special investigation and immediate judicial attention into the issue. The President also promised this in a phone call to the demised Mahsa Amini’s family.
In such an emotionally fraught context, and as a peaceful civil protest was underway, adversarial states’ actors guided civil protest towards insurrectionist violence aiming at destabilizing our country. The mass shootings carried out by separatist terror organizations with established links to foreign sponsorship further complimented this co-option of legitimate civil protest towards interventionist agendas.
As your country has recently experienced a social unrest, I’m sure it’s no need to remind a professional journalist of the distinction between civil protest and organized terrorism or any other form of unsanctioned violence that targets innocent civilians and public property.
Needless to say, the unrest has subsided in recent days, but Iran holds the western countries responsible for their role in fueling the unrest and the damage caused to civilians and people who were victims of these events.
What forces are primarily behind the protests? There have been accusations from Iran’s political sphere that enemies of the Islamic republic, notably USA and Israel, have initiated these protests. Why hasn’t any concrete proof of this been presented?
Various researches have been conducted on how these countries have been trying to deviate the path of peaceful civil protests in this Iran. You must be following the issue of forfeited news on virtual networks, an issue that was even raised in the US Congress and many virtual networks such as Facebook and Twitter were accused of publishing fake news. You may also refer to the research conducted by the Stanford Internet Monitoring Center, which details the dissemination of false information and CENTCOM’s psychological warfare methods.
The creation of multiple sham media outlets publishing content in Farsi was their key strategy. This action is being carried out in four platforms with a huge expense. In the first stage the three TV channels; BBC Farsi, Manoto and Iran International have been busy 24 hours a day in broadcasting to incite people to riot. In the next stage, there are virtual networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which spread fake news with fake accounts. You must know that 5 to 10 percent of Twitter accounts are fake. At the same stage, there are channels available in messengers such as WhatsApp and Telegram. It is interesting that in these channels training was given to fight against the police and to make explosive materials.
Of course, it cannot be denied that there are problems, the top of which is the increase in the cost of living; an issue that directly goes back to the severe sanctions of the United States against the Iranian people. Of course, the young generation also has naturally some demands that the Islamic Republic is ready to listen to and implement in a peaceful atmosphere as always. Yet, certainly, none of the parties will get what they want in a violent atmosphere, and this is exactly the goal that some war-mongering countries are looking for.
Do you share the belief, as reported internationally, that these protests are seriously undermining the Iranian government?
Certainly, the goal of belligerent states to direct protests to violence is to weaken the government. But I also have the feeling that there is some kind of desperation in them for using these tactics.
This is a desperation congruent with the general strategic direction of global and regional trends that have not been in favor of hegemons. Factors such as membership in BRICS expanding regional ties, and the general direction of global trends are increasingly having a deteriorating effect on Western hegemony and Iran’s influence in the region and beyond continues to be strong. As a last refuge they have resorted to these underhanded tactics.
The belligerent countries, America at the forefront, have never tolerated a strong Iran and will never tolerate it; the weakening of Iran and even the collapse of Iran has been their main goal.
Some reports indicate violent treatment of protesters. What is your opinion on this matter?
There can never be a reason behind brutality and ill-treatment of protestors.
Civil protest in Iran is legal and protected under the law. Vandalism, unsanctioned violence against civilians and authorities, murder, and transnational terrorism, however, are not. Thus, if any violent and ill-treatment observed, terrorism was behind it.
For example, In the recent attacks by Jaish Ul-Adl, a militant Salafi jihadist group mainly operating in southeastern Iran, 19 were killed and more than 20 were injured including civilians. I would not describe this as a form of “protest”. Murder, armed attacks, and violence is not appeased by the security forces of any country that I know of, including Iran. But now how the police in Europe and especially in France deal with the protesters, you must have seen the videos, surely our police deal with the protesters much calmer than the police in France, some European countries and America.
Women in Iran are tearing off their head scarves and burning them. What is your response to this?
We do not have a monolithic society in Iran. You are talking about a nation of 85 million. To use the term “Iranian Women” is a gross generalization. Certainly, some women, especially the younger generation, may have a problem with the hijab law. In Iran, we operate on the basis of democracy and this issue is currently the law. Of course, I do not know the future and this law may change in the future.
The law must be followed, let me give an example to make the point clear. Sri Lanka banned the import of chemical fertilizers last year, many experts and especially farmers protested, but anyway it was a law and it had to be implemented. These protests led to a change in the law and now it is free to import. Therefore, the issue of the law is like this and there are peaceful ways to change and update it.
Given the large number of protesters in the streets, strikers, etc., do you think it is likely that they are all working for foreign interests?
At the outset, I must say that neither I nor anyone else is claiming that anyone on the street is being guided by external agents. The methods of covert warfare covering multiple fronts and psychological operating mechanisms are more complex and subtle than this. There is an extensive research background on this matter. I recommend you start by reading the Stanford research I mentioned above. If you want to learn more, research on foreign interference in US congressional riots and elections can also be helpful.
Do you think it is not in Iran’s interest if the international media can accurately report what is happening?
It is definitely in the interest of Iran and we also support this process.
What is your personal opinion on women’s rights?
I believe women’s rights are a moral necessity. As a Muslim, I believe men and women are created spiritually equal and a lack of social equity between them is a great sin. I believe Iran, like every other country, has had an unfortunate history of patriarchy. However, the revolution helped bring women to the forefront and dispel this ridiculous false dichotomy between Islam and women’s empowerment and show that there are other ways of resistance to patriarchy other than adopting Western identity. Passing behind staggeringly high statistics of illiteracy among women, we now have a higher male to female ratio in university-level education, which is relatively higher than countries like the UK or Japan.
Today women are making great contributions to our nation from representing their country at the highest levels as Ambassadors, MPs, and Ministers to driving Iran’s progress as scientists, and artists, but there is still a long way to go.
Do you, yourself, have daughters. If so, what future do you wish for them in Iran?
Yes. I wish for them and the women of my country a future where they never have to experience the suffering and destitute experienced by the women of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and many more whose countries were reduced to ruins and their compatriots have been killed during foreign-directed violence.
I wish that the women of my country do not need westerners who have dominated their country; Westerners whose net impact on the world in the last century was nothing but pain, suffering, colonialism and destruction for the masses.
I’m grateful that today Iran has fortified its position as an independent country and will do anything I can to maintain this stability for my country and its inhabitants. I hope that the people of my country will always have the strength and courage to stay loyal to themselves and their values.
What outcome do you hope for Iran in the short- and long-term future?
Inhumane economic sanctions, which I call economic terrorism, and all kinds of violence and every form of aggression have been used through a multifaceted war against Iran. This has created challenges for Iran in the short-term. However, Iran’s economy has showed that it has the resilience to prove sanctions as tools of foreign policy are untenable and ineffective. Economic indicators are steadily rising to their prior status and economic capabilities of domestic production and regional trade have been further fortified and expanded.
Iran’s foreign policy doctrine of resistance against imperialism and foreign aggression has proved to resonate strongly among people in our region and beyond and we continue to pursue stronger ties and interactions with countries that do not require Iran to surrender its national sovereignty in order to maintain relations with them, which is an ever-expanding pool of nations.
In the long-term, I believe Iran has made a very strategically sound decision not to rely on Western hegemons for its stability and political credibility. Iran came to the conclusion, earlier than others, that this move will give it strategic competitive advantage in the transitional period in global power dynamics we are contemporarily experiencing.
