Khamenei to Rouhani: "Embrace the True Revolutionaries"

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met with President Hassan Rouhani and his cabinet on Thursday, August 28, offering 15 recommendations on what the government could do differently. 

During discussions, Khamenei markedly avoided any mention of foreign policy, in what analysts are reading as a discreet refusal to directly endorse the president’s foreign initiatives. This was a blow for the president and his allies, who consider their diplomatic achievements their strongest success over the past year.

Khamenei discussed the economy and healthcare at length and noted the Rouhani government’s progress in these areas. But, in addition to avoiding international matters, he also implicitly endorsed the August 20 hardline impeachment of Science Minister Reza Faraji-Dana, which signaled a new feistiness from Rouhani’s opponents. 

Khamenei reiterated that cabinet ministers must distance themselves from “seditionists,” a term used by the regime to denote the reformists who supported the 2009 Green Movement. Khamenei had issued the same warning in a meeting with the provincial governor of Qom in January.

Self-censorship, not Slogans

In recent weeks, Khamenei has expressed anger over revelations about widespread corruption under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—and has indirectly attacked the Rouhani administration for its role in bringing details to light. 

Rouhani’s government has sought to outline precisely what transpired under Ahmadinejad—in particular, corruption and dire inefficiency—in order to exact some sort of damage control, but also to move forward its plans to revive the economy and rescue higher education from hardline cronyism. But these moves have been a matter of some embarrassment for the Supreme Leader, who lent Ahmadinejad his full support during his time in office. In turn, the ayatollah has shown a fierce determination to bring an end to criticisms of Ahmadinejad’s tenure. 

Over the last year, Khamenei has advised against the dangers and consequences of expressing opinions publicly. At the same time, he has urged the Rouhani administration to be more receptive to criticism. “Criticisms should be answered logically and dispassionately,” he said, warning against the damage done by “unfair statements.” Disagreements with how things have been done in the past should be handled by a more effective, improved approach in future management, not by “airing opinions.”  

Though undoubtedly the Supreme Leader seeks to protect his own image and salvage what he can of Ahmadinejad’s, he is also clearly worried about in-fighting and political divisions. Here, too, language is key. In recent months, reformist media has highlighted the country’s deep political divisions, an editorial line that the ayatollah has been quick to discredit. In March this year, he told the influential Assembly of Experts that the young “faithful revolutionaries” should not be misled or discouraged from political engagement because of “slogans about moderation and avoiding extremism.” 

Such slogans are, for Khamenei, the hallmark of the Rouhani government, serving to “push aside the faithful political movement,” the very section of society that, in his view, is most crucial to protecting the Islamic Republic’s values. “They are the ones who stand up to danger. They are the ones who truly support the government when it is in real difficulty,” he said.

Recommendations and Red Lines 

Khamenei's tendency to take the Rouhani government to task with a bevy of “recommendations” and subtle warnings is nothing new. Khamenei issued his first warning to Rouhani on October 4, 2013 at a graduation ceremony for cadets. “We believe that some of what happened in New York was not appropriate,” he told them, referring to Rouhani’s trip to the United Nations General Assembly and his telephone call with President Barack Obama. It was important, Khamenei advised, that the administration tread carefully. 

Over the past year, Khamenei has been routinely pessimistic about Iran’s dealings with the United States, referring to negotiations with the Americans as futile and insisting that talks outside the nuclear framework should be avoided. He has called on Iranian foreign policy officials to be unequivocal on international issues, being careful to take “revolutionary” stands where necessary. As far as the nuclear program is concerned, Khamenei has repeatedly reminded Iran’s nuclear negotiators of the lines they cannot cross, including the degree of uranium enrichment and nuclear facilities at Fordo. 

Hardline daily Keyhan, which is published under the direct supervision of Ayatollah Khamenei’s office, made sure these messages hit the headlines. “The Supreme Leader’s statements about the red line for sedition and seditionists is not just a political warning,” one of its editorials read, “It is an objective and practical formula for the health and the success of [the government].”

The recent impeachment of the Minister of Science and Health, Reza Faraji-Dana, shows just how much impact Khamenei’s warnings have. In a meeting with the members of the Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution on December 10, 2013, Khamenei warned the minister not to let universities become a battleground for political groups. He repeated this warning on July 2, 2014, telling ministry officials they had to stop the emergence of political student bodies. And, last week, Faraji-Dana lost his job, with 145 out of 270 parliamentarians voting for his impeachment. 

Their Master’s Voice

At Thursday’s meeting, the Supreme Leader showed more restraint than usual when it came to cultural matters. However, in the past, he has spoken out on the importance culture plays in strengthening the country's interests. “I hope those in charge of culture know what they are doing,” he said in a meeting with Assembly of Experts members earlier this year, adding that he “shared  concerns” about the direction cultural policy in Iran. “A cultural collapse is not like an economic one; it cannot be repaired.”  In July, Khamenei met with poets and authorities from the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance. “We have a lot to talk about with the minister,” he said. 

Rouhani’s opponents—including the judiciary and the security forces—are quick to use Khamenei’s warnings against the president and his administration. Though hardliners might have hoped for the ayatollah to be more outspoken on cultural issues this week, his comments still provided ample fodder for their fight.   

But does impatience with the Rouhani administration necessarily signal mistrust? Though Khamenei tended to be more lenient with the reformist administration of former President Mohammad Khatami, that was a different time: political divisions show no signs of reversing, and it’s become increasingly difficult for Khamenei to maintain control over national and political debate.

It could be that the Supreme Leader has taken on board some advice from the past. In the run-up to the 2009 presidential election, then President Ahmadinejad accused former President Hashemi Rafsanjani of corruption. Rafsanjani appealed to Ayatollah Khamenei, asking him to speak out on his behalf before things got out of hand. Given how things later unfolded, it could be that Khamenei is keen to get things under control before further cracks begin to show. The Rouhani government—an administration that former president Rafsanjani supports—continues to face attacks from hardliners, and Khamenei’s latest set of recommendations will come as yet another blow to the administration’s policy initiatives, whether they be on the international or the domestic front.