The President’s gesture of camaraderie, embodied in a goodwill letter addressed to Iran’s newly inaugurated president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has certainly stirred the waters. Apparent in every ruffled feather, bared tooth, and tousled hair was the perception that this goodwill letter was an endorsement of any deplorable actions the recipient’s nation may take.
Should that be the situation, we would find ourselves at a loss, having no choice but to disengage from any monarchy, sovereignty, empire, democratic state, or jurisdiction guilty of causing harm to other nations, their own populace, or even their loyalists. We would, consequently, find ourselves on the cusp of severing ties with ourselves.
The cries of fervent objection, proclaiming that Iran is like no other country, do not escape me. While there’s truth to that declaration, the same can be said about any other nation. If we attempt aligning the countries that, in recent times, executed bombings on civilians, stages brutal assaults on towns unlawfully, justifying the torment inflicted upon captives with regard to legal requirements, conspired to meddle in other governance through the use of bribery, intimidation, or brute force, overtly committed acts of genocide, permitted deadly weapons to seep across their borders; we would find them all fluctuating wildly on the moral compass, between grace, morality, and fidelity.
From my perspective, Iran is likely to rank at the lower end of any spectrum based on these standards, but several others would barely avoid brushing against the bed covers; or in other words, getting caught.
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Regrettably, Iran is establishing interests in areas where it would be more beneficial for them, and indeed for all, if they maintained neutrality. It is desirable for Iran to remain uninvolved. Having held prominence as an intellectual powerhouse for millennia and being identified as one of the ‘origins of society’, there is potential for Iran to regain this status. It has been a formidable adversary for the Roman Empire for countless centuries. The question remains as to which side excelled in this long-lasting rivalry. Their fate was determined by Russian ambition and British fanaticism in the 1800s. One could quote the esteemed British diplomat, George Curzon who famously analogised Iran as ‘fragments in a game of chess played in the pursuit of global supremacy’. That may seem slightly hyperbolic today, yet it holds some truth.
However, the most important observation to make is that Iran’s current situation will not persist indefinitely. Even those who refuse to look beyond the most recent political events must recall that this was not always the norm. A stage existed when Iran was a functioning democracy, characterised by parliament, elections, governmental ministers, and freedom of speech, all attributes of Mohammad Mossadegh’s administration. It is unnecessary to recollect who the advocates for democracy were that led to this transformation in Iran.
Based on available reports, as much as can be accurately interpreted from these isolated regions, Masoud Pezeshkian appears to be a relatively liberal individual within the existing culture. Wouldn’t it be logical, at the very least, and in alignment with international decorum and mutual respect between nations, for our President, elected by the will of our people, to dispatch a goodwill message to another leader elected by the will of his citizens, in anticipation that it will have a beneficial impact on his populace, who are the real stakeholders in politics?