Iran's Hardliners: “People should not celebrate”

While the public waited for details to emerge of the nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1 countries, Iranian hardliners in Tehran had already urged people not to celebrate the deal. 

Posting on Instagram, Iran’s Interior Minister, Abdolrez Rahmani Fazli, called for officials around the country to coordinate public celebrations. 

But anti-Rouhani politicians, including Tehran MP Alireza Zakani, said it would be wrong to celebrate, adding that it would send completely the wrong message to Iran’s enemy. Speaking in parliament, Zakani said the United States got exactly what it wanted: a bad deal that goes against the national interests of Iran. 

Media and political analyst Mehdi Fazaeli warned that the West might “take advantage of the people’s happiness and tell the world that the Iranian people are satisfied, even though the desired outcome was not reached.” Speaking to Fars News Agency, he said, “This will only lead to even more concessions. The main concern is that the impact of this happiness could weaken Iran’s national status.” He said encouraging people to celebrate would paint Iranians as desperate, suggesting that the situation in Iran had been so bad any deal would result in a euphoric reaction. 

Hossein Sobhani-Nia, parliament’s national security committee deputy, also told Fars that any celebration was premature and unwise. “If one faction tries to benefit unilaterally from people’s celebrations, it will divide society.”

“What’s the reason for celebrating?” hardline website Raja News asked, adding that any signs of happiness would be manufactured by the government. The site said promoting such behavior amounted to calling for a repeat of the “Sedition” of 2009. 

“What’s the achievement? Is this now a nuclear celebration? For what? Iran has reached the end of its nuclear activities ... If the new deal is based on the Lausanne agreement, it is a catastrophe, not a victory. Instead of celebrating, we should be taking measures to help us get through this crisis.”

Although Raja News was on the whole gloomy about the deal, it said that if Iran’s “red lines” were observed, then it could be classified as a good deal. If that happened, then certainly a grand celebration of victory was in order. But, it said, this was unlikely. 

Kayhan newspaper, edited by Hossein Shariatmadari  and overseen by the office of the Supreme Leader, adopted a somber attitude in its attack: “Our people have seen so many negotiations and deals. There is no reason to get excited about a deal with America and the West.”

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