Rouhani-Cameron Meeting Piques Hardliners

A meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday September 24 in New York gave hardliners In Iran fresh ammunition to fire at the president.

This was the first meeting between an Iranian and British head of state since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, as underscored by Cameron’s remarks to an aid shortly afterwards, that “a little bit of history [was] made.” However the following day he told the United Nations General Assembly that, “We have severe disagreements and Iran's support of terrorist organizations, its nuclear program and its treatment of its people, all need to change.”

British-Iranian relations suffered during the Ahmadinejad era, and ruptured entirely when regime-affiliated protesters stormed the British embassy in Tehran in November of 2011. Although protesters destroyed property, smashed windows, and burnt the British flag in a flagrant breach of international law, the Iranian government appeared taken aback when Britain recalled its ambassador and broke off relations.

Relations have cautiously developed in recent months, in seeming tandem with Iran’s responsiveness to nuclear negotiations and cooperation with regional security concerns. But those hardliners who likely gave the green-light for the embassy attack are displeased at this slow restoration of ties, and seized upon Cameron’s remarks as evidence that the Rouhani government has been foolish and premature in patching up relations with the United Kingdom.

Both hardline media and officials reacted angrily, and seemed to wholly ignore the more positive   message to Iran embedded within his speech: “Iran's leaders could help in defeating the threat from” ISIS, he told the General Assembly. “They could help secure a more stable, inclusive Iraq and a more stable, inclusive Syria. And if they are prepared to do this, then we should welcome their engagement.”

Fars News Agency, the mouthpiece of the Revolutionary Guards, interviewed eight Iranian MPs who criticized the British prime minister and demanded a strong response from the Rouhani administration.

The most clear-cut demand came from Naghavi Hosseini, the spokesman for Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee. “In response to Cameron’s repulsive statements, the government must prevent the reopening of the British embassy in Tehran and declare that we do not need any diplomatic relations with London,” he said.

Another member of the committee, Ismael Kosary, demanded an apology from the United Kingdom, and said “relations must only be at the level of chargé d’affaires.” Mansour Haghighatpour, the committee’s deputy chairman, echoed the others by saying “we will reconsider the question of reopening the British embassy in Tehran. If we find it necessary to prevent the expansion of relations with England, we will do so and pass necessary laws to punish the old fox.”

“Iranian hardliners have an extraordinary obsession with Britain (which they still consider “the old fox”) and approach it with a conspiratorial mind-set,” wrote the British newspaper Guardian. “In their view, British hands are behind everything political in Tehran and the royal family still runs Westminster. Iranian conservatives have a suspicion towards Britain much deeper and stronger than towards the United States.”

The British embassy in Tehran was closed in 2011 after it was stormed by members of Basij, the regime’s paramilitary organisation. This action was at first praised by hardliners but when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei declared that breaking into the embassy was wrong, approval subsided and some MPs even demanded the attackers be put on trial.

In recent months officials from Rouhani’s government have promised to work towards the reopening of the embassy and Alaeddin Broujerdi, chair of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, supported the plan.

Britain has demanded £1 million be paid in damages incurred to the embassy grounds and buildings; Iranian officials have said they would consider this but refused to apologize for the incident.

The website Raja News, affiliated with Endurance Front, a hardline coalition, criticized reformists who spoke positively about the Rouhani-Cameron meeting. “When Mr Rouhani agrees to meet David Cameron without condemning England’s hostile acts against the people of Iran over the past century and is satisfied with niceties and diplomatic smiles, then it is only natural that the British prime minister would be more brazen in insulting Iran and accusing our country of supporting terrorism,” the site reported. “It is not clear how long this extremist optimism by [Rouhani’s administration] towards the enemy will last. And after further US insults and sanctions this year against Iran in exchange for smiles by Messrs. Zarif and Rouhani, is it now England’s turn to brazenly attack and insult us?”

Jahan News, a hardline website run by MP Alireza Zakani, wrote that the Cameron-Rouhani meeting encouraged Cameron’s insolence, encouraging him to insult Iran. The site criticized Rouhani for failing to mention Cameron’s remarks in his own address to the UN General Assembly. “A golden opportunity was lost,” it wrote. “Of course there is still hope that during the remainder of his stay in New York Mr Rouhani would take advantage of other forums at his disposal to answer England’s hubris.”

But it was not only hardliners who were critical of Cameron’s remarks. Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham and Abbas Araghchi, deputy foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, both found Cameron’s rebukes unwarranted. “Many of the problems in the region come from England’s unreasonable policies. It is regrettable that a country which has supported terrorists and is responsible for the scourge of ISIS now allows itself to pass judgment on a country that has been at the forefront of the war against this ominous phenomenon.”

“Some politicos said that there would be a thaw in relations between Iran and Britain after the two leaders met,” wrote Jam-e Jam, a website of the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). “But Cameron’s remarks against the Islamic Republic of Iran at the UN General Assembly has solidly frozen the relations.”

In the past few months hardliners have repeatedly opposed the reopening of the British embassy in Tehran, arguing that it would enable Britain to spy and to interfere in domestic Iranian affairs. Cameron’s statements have given them added cause to pressurize Rouhani, despite the president’s efforts to sound sufficiently anti-Western in his own address, which was praised by the likes of Ayatollah Sadighi at Tehran’s Friday prayers.

Rouhani’s hardline opponents are furious with the president for his willingness to deal with the West, and seek any occasion to prove that he is naïve in his dealings. While Cameron’s remarks have raised their ire and will provide content for headlines and fulminations in the weeks to come. No one ever said ending Iran’s isolation would be easy, or without serious griping by those who stand to lose a great deal.