Hard-Line Ridicule of Pezeshkian Widely Condemned

After Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian cautioned the United States against becoming entangled in a war with Iran on Israel’s behalf in an interview with U.S. media personality Tucker Carlson, Iranian hard-liners lampooned the president. For now, however, they appear to lack the backing of individuals close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and, more significant, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Conversely, reformist political analysts continue to criticize Iran’s intelligence and security services, accusing them of prioritizing hijab enforcement over countering espionage and preventing Israeli infiltration.  

• July 9: Parliamentarian Hamid Rasaei, in a Telegram post, mocked Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s interview with Tucker Carlson: 

• • “Having listened to Mr. Pezeshkian’s interview with Tucker Carlson … I came across a tweet by a political activist in Baku. With deep regret, I must shamefully admit his description was accurate: ‘Pezeshkian is … soft spoken and kind but useful only in ceremonies where the groom formally asks the parents for their daughter’s hand, on the condition that he merely sips tea and remains silent, lest he ruin everything with a single sentence.’” 

• July 10: Mehdi Fazaeli, a member of the Office for the Preservation and Propagation of the Works of His Holiness Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, posted a rebuttal on X:  

• • “Insulting the honorable president undermines one of the key components of national resilience: internal unity.” 

• July 11: Javan, which is affiliated with the IRGC, sharply criticized Rasaei in an editorial: 

• • “Who gave this nobody permission to ridicule and insult the president in such critical circumstances?”  

• July 11: Columnist Abbas Abdi critiqued the proposed bill “Increased Punishment for Espionage and Collaboration With the Zionist Regime and Hostile Governments Against National Security and Interests” in a column for reformist Etemad: 

• • “Three possible rationales underlie this legislation: a) Existing laws were insufficiently punitive; b) Existing laws were adequate but poorly enforced; c) Relevant authorities failed to detect the perpetrators … The third issue must be addressed: How did numerous agents and spies conduct extensive operations without detection? Will this bill help identify them? Parliament is meant to serve as a watchdog over the security services, but what attention was paid to this issue over the past year? It seems the answer is zero. Instead, hard-line parliamentarians were fixated on regulating the appearance of women and girls … Moreover, they provide no substantive analysis of why citizens commit such crimes. A few lines on why an Iranian might choose to spy for Israel would have been instructive. It would benefit the country if lawmakers reflected on the consequences of their own policies.” 

The views represented herein are the author's or speaker's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of AGSI, its staff, or its board of directors.