Days after the execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran, tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia still dominate the headlines across Iranian media. In addition to covering emerging news and protests, domestic media have also published a variety of editorials and opinion pieces, from attacks on Saudi Arabia’s execution of the cleric and its decision to cut diplomatic ties with Iran to criticism of President Rouhani to praise for his administration.
In an apparent attempt to further stoke tensions, as part of coverage of the backlash against the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, the author of a column published by hardline newspaper Javan, referred to Al Saud, the family that rules the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as “Al Daesh” (al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham) — the Arabic name for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Javan is affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The author accused the Saudi king, his son and the other high authorities of lacking “political understanding and knowledge”, saying the regime had failed to pay attention to Western countries’ warnings concerning the potential fallout of executing. Their mindset, the Javan author said, was so narrow that they were unable to “see the future consequences of their actions” and, as a result, placed obstacles in “their own path.”
The author made a direct comparison between Saudi Arabia’s policy and the terror group’s approach — for him, Saudi’s “path” is identical to that of ISIS. But, he said, the House of Saud thinks it can “go even further” and “gain more power with violence and bloodshed” than ISIS can. “This is the point,” he wrote. “ISIS also published a video of the execution of five innocent people the day after the Saudis execution”.
In the end, the writer blamed David Cameron, the UK’s prime minister: Cameron, he wrote, “should go to the the House of Lords and parliament and explain to MPs why he voted for Saudi Arabia to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council."
Writing for Fars News Agency, also affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, Iraqi journalist Amer Al-Hassun made the case for a Saudi-“Zionist” alliance — a united front that is, after all, weak and without impact. The article, entitled “We are not afraid of the howling enemies,” Al-Hassun wrote, adding that Iran, “the Islamic Authority” was all-powerful and “glorious.”
The author said that Saudi Arabia has repeatedly been aggressive toward Iran, threatening to start a war over the nuclear deal even though a physical war between Saudi Arabia and Iran was and is “very unlikely”. Any “possible war” between the two regional powers, he said, would amount to “political and economic suicide for Saudi”.
“The war is a big threat for Saudi," says Al-Hassun, imagining the retaliation of the country’s Shia population, who will, he says, “start a fire in the east of the country,” bringing “internal and regional defeat”.
The well-known Hossein Shariatmadari, managing editor of Kayhan, the most conservative newspaper in Iran, turned attention to the list of countries choosing to cut diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic — and mocked them for doing so:
“Iran’s foreign ministry gives Djibouti diplomats 24 hours to find their country on the world map,” he posted on Instagram.
Hardline Mehr News chose poetry as its medium:
Can you fit in a pocket, Djibouti?
My life is like heaven
Since I have known you, Djibouti!
Where are you exactly in the big world?
No
Don’t go my love
Come back, Djibouti!
Wait! You can go.
There are many other countries like you
I can buy others,
Djibouti.
You
Like Al Saud and their families
Will fit in a pocket!
Mehr also criticized President Rouhani, accusing him of disloyalty and misplaced priorities. While it acknowledged that he had publicly condemned the Saudi government, the agency said the rebuke had come too late — after November's terror attacks in France Rouhani was on the phone to President François Hollande in a matter of hours, it said — and vilified him for seizing the opportunity to lash out at what the president described as “local extremists.” The article, entitled “Mr Rouhani! The execution of al-Nimr was a bigger crime than the embassy attack,” also berated the president for devoting too much of his speech to the attacks: “181 words (58 percent) of Rouhani’s message was about extremists who attacked the embassy, while only 130 words (42 percent) was about the Al Saud’s crimes.”
But Elias Hazrati, the managing editor of the reformist Etemad newspaper urged people to “leave the work to the experts,” and reminded readers that Saudi Arabia was “searching for an excuse” to “make Iran angry”, referring to comments from political analysts without mentioning their names. Executing Nimr al-Nimr was the easiest way of doing this, it said, knowing that Iran would react with “anger” and “emotion.”
“Iran's diplomatic system is wise and aware of the situation,” said Hazrati, echoed by other moderate or reformist columnists who praised Iran's diplomacy. In support of Rouhani, Hazrati was quick to condemn the embassy attack and said “the extremists in Tehran and Mashhad” were responsible for “reckless acts that could lead the country to big troubles.”
Hazrati said those who staged the attacks on the consulate and the embassy had defied the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who, he said, had made it clear that attacking diplomatic property was not acceptable.
But Hazrati’s column was not just a message to the extremists who attacked the embassy and consulate. It was also a wider message at the bigger hardliner agenda bent on using emotion to deal with sensitive issues that have far-reaching implications.
Hazrati is most likely right about trouble to come, and it will come from all sides, including from Iran’s very outspoken media.
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