👋 Final Newsletter for the Year - This is the last issue of Iranophilia in the Iranian year 1403. I wish everyone a wonderful Nowruz and appreciate all your support and suggestions in the past few months.

CURRENT EVENTS

Dilemma Over a Letter - The latest event in the ongoing saga of drama between Iran and the United States was news last week that Donald Trump wrote a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei asking him for negotiations between the two countries (my apologies for the illiterate Fox Hosts in the second half of the clip). His tone in the interview was threatening, implying that time was over and he would either go to war or get a deal. He gave a very similar message in a discussion with reporters, saying the US was in “final moments” [in finding a way forward with Iran].

This comes as Iranian leaders had categorically ruled out direct negotiations with the US in the past few weeks, as discussed in previous issues of Iranophilia. It appears that Trump’s response to Ayatollah Khamenei’s paradigm of “neither war, nor negotiations” is “either war or negotiations”.

What Has Been the Response on the Iranian Side?

In the past two weeks, Iranian leaders continued to reject direct negotiations (all the following comments were made before receiving Trump’s letter).

Pezeshkian stated during his defense of his economy minister that “I believed that if we talk it is better. The Supreme Leader said that we will not talk with America. I (then) said we will not talk with America. It’s done and over”.

This statement divided Pezeshkian supporters. One group believed it was a betrayal of his election promises and that he was acting like the appointee of the Supreme Leader rather than the elected figure of the people. On the other hand, others argued that by saying this, Pezeshkian made it clear not negotiating was not his decision, so the consequences of what happened next do not fall on him.

Foreign Minister Araghchi tweeted out, “… We will NOT negotiate under pressure and intimidation. We will NOT even consider it, no matter what the subject may be. Negotiation is different from bullying and issuing diktats … In the past, the US enjoyed respect from Iran whenever it was respectful in its discourse, and it was confronted whenever it adopted a threatening posture. Every action compels a reaction.”

The Supreme Leader referred to this issue twice:

In an Iftar ceremony with the political leaders of the country, he stated that offers of negotiations by “some bullying countries” were a trick to impose their will on Iran. He also stated their goal was not just talking about Iran’s nuclear program but also its missiles and regional relations.

Then, in a separate Iftar with some university students (after news of Trump’s letter came out but before it was received), he was even more explicit, saying the same Trump who was claiming to want to negotiate was the person who ripped up the previous deal that was made. He emphasized that negotiations with this US administration would not relieve sanctions, but make them worse, and would only increase Iran’s problems.

The Letter Itself

Trump’s letter was delivered to Iran by Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic advisor to the President of the UAE, who visited Tehran. This method of delivery was unusual. Usually such a message would either be conveyed through the US Interests Section in the Embassy of Switzerland in Tehran, or through a country closer to Iran, like Oman or Qatar. It was also odd for an advisor to deliver it rather than a formal government official.

There was lots of debate among different analysts about what the letter contained. Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a prominent UAE academic, claimed it contained threats of massive military action. On the other hand Ali Gholhaki, a conservative Iranian journalist claimed that the letter is different from what is being speculated & does contain some threats but also has a heavy emphasis on dialogue and resolving misunderstandings. He says it is under serious consideration by Iranian officials.

Nournews, affiliated with Ali Shamkhani, stated that

Finally, former president Hassan Rouhani made a speech to his former administration in which he stated that the Supreme Leader’s rejection is not of negotiations entirely but of negotiations at this particular time & circumstance, something that may change in the future. The speech touched on many issues beyond the nuclear talks - the full thing can be seen here.

The Path Going Forward

It seems that there are debates going on among Iranian officials on how to interpret and respond to Trump’s letter. Specifically, officials are discussing whether to reveal parts of the letter to the public and whether to issue a formal response.

MORE HEADLINES

• The US imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil minister and several ships. It also ended a sanctions waiver given to Iraq allowing it import Iranian gas for electricity. Iranian officials stated these actions show that the US is not sincere in seeking negotiations.

• Tensions country to grow domestically as the Pezeshkian administration refuses to enact the new Hejab enforcement bill on national security grounds. This was harshly criticized by Friday prayer leaders across the country. There have also been protests by supporters of enforcing hejab laws across the country - though these have been criticized as being extremists even by hardline figures.

• Majles voted to impeach Abdolnaser Hemmati (something covered in detail in Iranophilia #004). Furthermore Javad Zarif resigned from his post as advisor to the president.

• The Iranian Navy held joint drills with the Russian and Chinese Navies in the Gulf of Oman on March 12th. Two days later, Iran, Russia, and China held a joint meeting in Beijing about Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief.

CULTURE

New Series - The film streaming serivce Namava has released a new crime action series called “One Way Ticket” which is co-produced by Iran and Turkey:

Meanwhile a trailer has been released for Season 7 of the popular Nowruz comedy series “Paytakht”:

The Iranian channel Football360 posted an award winning, 20 minute long documentary called “I am a girl, I am a boy” about the life and struggles of Zohreh Koudaei, the former goalkeeper of the Iranian women’s football team.

After Iran beat Jordan in a match in 2021, the Jordanian football association falsely accused her of being a man - a charge with led to her humiliation in the global press. The full documentary can be seen below:

SPORTS

Failures Across the Board - The two remaining Iranian teams in Asian football competitions were eliminated. Esteghlal lost 3-0 to Al Nassr while Tractor Sazi lost in a penalty shootout after tying 2-2 against Al-Taawoun. Both games were in Saudi Arabia.

Upcoming National Team Games - Team Melli has two upcoming World Cup qualifiers in the next two weeks. It will play the UAE on Thursday March 20th (on the last day of the Iranian year), while it will face Uzbekistan on Tuesday March 25th. Both games will be in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, the first time the national team has played there since September (due to repairs of the stadium). The preliminary squad that was called up can be seen here.

Sahar Academy Wins- Sahar Academy won the Iranian Women’s Basketball League. The team, which includes an American player, posted a celebration video that went viral and got over 11 million views.

ACROSS THE WEB

• Roundups of the past year: The content creator Sedkhareji made a 6 minute video summary of the events that happened in 1403. The video streaming service Aparat also made their own version covering both Iran related and international events (I thought Sedkhareji’s was more artistic and well done).

• YouTuber visits Iran: Popular American YouTuber “World Nomac” released a few videos about his recent visit to Iran. He’s released four Iran related videos so far

• Fazeli-Zarif Discussion: Sociologist Mohamad Fazeli had a discussion with former foreign minister Javad Zarif about Iran’s current international situation compared to the past & the challenges it faces in the future. I did not fully agree with Zarif, but found the discussion worthwhile to understand his perspective.

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All previous issues of Iranophilia can be found here.

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