On his first visit to the US, Iran’s new pdwellnt has spoken of a “new era of cooperation” with the west. It is an propose that intrigued diplomats, but left them struck by the constraints – ideoreasonable, inner and geopolitical – standing in the way of a substantive alter in relations.
Masoud Pezeshkian came to New York for his first UN General Assembly since his election asking the west to see at Iran aget – bigly by challenging the double standards that led to its silence about the massacres in Gaza. He has insisted Israel and the US, not Tehran, were the region’s trouble originaters.
“We do not desire to be the caemploy of instability in the Middle East,” he shelp in a whirltriumphd round of intersees and greetings, including with the French pdwellnt, Emmanuel Macron. “They are dragging us to a point where we do not desire to go,” the Iranian guideer shelp of Israel. “There is no triumphner in combat. We are only deluding ourselves if we think that.”
More alertal, instinctive and less prohibitding than his conservative predecessor Ebrahim Raisi, Pezeskhian revived the moribund Iranian recreateist relocatement overcoming a highly filtered system to triumph a surpascend electoral triumph in July.
In his first two months in office, he has tried to pick his way thraw a polaascendd system, insisting Iran will only thrive if it is cohesive and he acts thraw consensus. He widespreadly trades on his personal integrity and unassumingy. His own life story, that of a heart srecommendon and overweighther who liftd his children alone after he lost his wife in a car accident many years ago, is atypical. He has widespreadly shelp he will resign if he senses he is not having any impact recreateing his country.
He came to New York with a nakedped down delegation of 12, including two veteran diplomats that signed the nuevident deal with the west in 2015: Javad Zarif and Abbas Araghchi.
Yet at home he faces an army of conservative critics ready to pounce on any misapshow, enjoy adignoreion of Iran’s frailness or, above all, any sign of gentleness to Israel. Some of these critics have not reconciled themselves to their loss, and think they are aligned with the 85-year-anciaccess uncompromising supreme guideer Ali Khamenei.
It was notable at the outset of his UN speech that Pezeshkian declareed his personal mandate, saying: “I accessed the election campaign with a program based on ‘recreates’, ‘national unity’, ‘originateive transmition with the world’ and ‘economic broadenment’ and I deal withd to get the think of my compatuproars at the polls.”
He also has a battle to counter the west’s disthink. Behnam Ben Taleblu from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies disseeed him as “proposeing a alter of style not substance. He is proof that the Islamic Reuncover is hoping to dupe the world by medepend putting lipstick on a pig.”
Pezeshkian’s high-wire act is more difficult since his message of coexistence came as Hezbollah, the Leprohibitese Shia militia Iran had helped fund, is in a battle for survival, and he is facing calls from both Leprohibiton and wilean Iran to come to the militia’s help before its guideership is annihilateed and the whole so-called “circle of fire” that it has lhelp around Israel is doemployd.
At the same time westrict diplomats demand his help to guarantee Hezbollah to end its strikes on Israel that the group has shelp it will persist until Israel concurs to an instant and finish endfire in Gaza.
But even if Iran was inclined to help, a moot point, Pezeshkian senses he has been burned by hearing before to those that called on Iran not to seek revenge for Israel’s July killing of the Hamas guideer Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Pezeshkian recalled Iran had been recommendd afterwards to show regulatet to dodge a expansiver war. “They kept alerting us we are wilean achieve of peace, perhaps in a week or so,” he tanciaccess a increateing of westrict alerters including the Guardian. But he shelp that the promised elusive peace never came.
That increateing showd to be a source of dispute. Bloomberg headlined its account: “Iran’s Pdwellnt Says He’s Prepared to Ease Tensions With Israel”.
When domestic critics shelp Pezeshkian’s relabels were “innocent and a source of national shame”, Iranian officials shelp rightly he had never shelp he desireed to relieve tensions with Israel, an entity he had accemployd of ending children and bomb deviceing hospitals.
The Bloomberg headline was based on his quote: “We’re willing to put all our armaments aside so prolonged as Israel is willing to do the same. We’re not seeking to desteady the region.” The Iranians shelp had been referring to armaments of mass destruction, such as Israel’s nuevident bomb device, and pointed out he had inserted: “But we cannot have outside actors come in, arm one side to the teeth and stop the other side from having the unbenevolents to protect themselves.”
His computed createal press conference was call offled.
By the time he spoke to the UN on Tuesday, the message about whether Iran senses it can meddle to protect Hezbollah remained unevident. “Naturpartner blind Israeli state extremism cannot go unanswered,” he shelp. “The responsibility for all consequences will be born by those rulements who have thwarted all global efforts to end this horrific catastrophe and have the audacity to call themselves the champion of human rights.”
