Zarif drives Trump to insanity

The latest idiotic move of the US in the unwarranted crisis it has stirred up with the Islamic Republic by withdrawing illegally from the international nuclear deal and then adopting a policy of economic terrorism, is the ill-defined sanctions it recently imposed on Iran’s Chief Diplomat, while pretending to be ready for unconditional talks for diplomatic solution to the conflict of its own making.

The following is an analysis by retired Indian diplomat, M.K. Bhadrakumar, titled “Zarif drives Trump to insanity” that appeared simultaneously in the  ‘Indian Punchline’ and ‘Globetrotter’.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, a fluent English speaker, could tweet, debate and spar with any American with delectable ease – a factor that has unnerved the US administration of Donald Trump.

At a time when the Trump administration has no problem negotiating with the secretary of the Russian National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, who has technically been under US sanctions since April 2018, the cut and thrust of Washington’s move to sanction the Iranian Foreign Minister needs to be understood properly.

How did US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo try to explain the sanctions on Zarif?

Pompeo’s statement last Wednesday attributed to Zarif the following sins:

A) Zarif “acted on behalf of the Leader” of the Islamic Revolution – Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei”;

B) Zarif took “direction from the Supreme Leader and his office”;

C) Zarif was “a key enabler of Ayatollah Khamenei’s policies throughout the region and around the world”;

D) Zarif has been “a senior official and apologist” of the Iranian government and has “for years now been complicit in these allegedly malign activities.”

Basically, Pompeo’s grouse narrows down to this: Zarif is a disciplined, dutiful, loyal Iranian public servant who abided by the Iranian system of government based on the concept of Velayat-e Faqih, or “Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist.”

Has that become a sin? Any foreign minister has his job cut out for him – in accordance with the system of government of his country – even Pompeo.

Pompeo has no pretensions that he is holding the job entirely at the pleasure and discretion of his own leader, President Donald Trump. Trump, in fact, is an unforgiving stickler for loyalty.

Anyone in doubt should ask James Mattis or Rex Tillerson – respectively the Secretaries of Defense and State, whom Trump unceremoniously removed for objecting to his quixotic policies.

The US establishment knows very well how the concept Velayat-e Faqih operates, how the alchemy of political power is formed in Iran, and how the decision-making process is reached. Even Trump would know it.

That is why Trump even tried to get through to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and was duly snubbed.

So, where is the beef?

Simply put, Zarif per se is the problem. The Trump administration is desperately trying to put an end to Zarif’s contacts with the American elite. Zarif lived and worked for several years in the US from the age of 17 – as a high-school student, university student and career diplomat, ending up as Iran’s representative at the United Nations from 2002 to 2007.

He also kept closely in touch with the US academia and intellectual circles in his capacity as a professor and editor of scholarly journals in Tehran and has written copiously on disarmament, human rights, international law and regional conflicts.

Indeed, what rankles the Trump administration is that Zarif has extensively networked with American intellectuals, politicians, think-tankers and media people – figures as diverse as Joe Biden, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Hagel, Nicholas Kristof, Thomas Pickering, James Dobbins and Christiane Amanpour.

Zarif took his job seriously, and, being a fluent English speaker, he could tweet and debate and spar with any American with delectable ease. Zarif outclassed the mediocre American foreign-and security-policy team – a “B Team” or second grade team in the words of the Iranian Foreign Minister.

Zarif’s periodical visits to New York – to attend UN events – increasingly became a nightmare for the Trump administration as the Iranian Foreign Minister cast his net wide and ably put across the Islamic Republic’s narrative. Trump singled out more than once the fact that Zarif had meetings with Kerry, the former US Secretary of State who negotiated the 2015 deal with Iran – along with Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

This is the crux of the matter. By imposing sanctions on Zarif, the US can deny a visa to him and render unlawful any contact between him and any American national – liable to prosecution unde law.

In effect, Trump has made sure that Zarif does not come to New York between now and the 2020 November election so his detractors and critics cannot hear from him the Iranian narrative.

Trump feels exasperated that Iran is winning the information war. And he is worried that between now and November 2020, his re-election campaign may get booby-trapped. For any longtime observer of the US-Iran stand-off, it is obvious that a sea change has appeared in the American discourses on Iran.

There is an influential and ever-growing body of opinion in the US today that disagrees with Trump’s so-called “maximum pressure” strategy. This constituency rationally argues that Trump should not have dumped the 2015 nuclear deal.

Equally, there is a far better understanding today in informed American opinion regarding Iran and its policies.

The surprising part is that such an awakening has happened despite the Herculean efforts by the Israeli lobby to demonize Iran and to stymie all contrarian views in the media, think-tanks and campuses – and Capitol Hill.

In view of these fact, will Trump’s ploy work?

The answer is obvious – unlikely.

The point is that Zarif is irrepressible. He will continue to tease, taunt, disparage, humiliate and expose and run down Trump’s Iran policies. Worse still, Zarif has driven a knife into the heart of the “B Team” driving the US administration’s Iran policies.

Trump’s sanctions against Zarif will not set an example for any other country that has diplomatic relations with Iran. In the final analysis, Trump will have to deal with Zarif, whether he likes him or not.

The best way to counter Zarif would have been to handpick an intellectually resourceful, dynamic state secretary. A mediocrity like Pompeo stands no chance with Zarif.

In 2001, Zarif was Iran’s main representative at the Bonn Conference, which brought together regional players in the aftermath of the US invasion of Afghanistan and the ousting of the Taliban. His American counterpart at the event, James Dobbins – who was later named as Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan – wrote a memorable essay The Washington Quarterly titled “Negotiating with Iran: Reflections from Personal Experience” about Zarif’s erudition, wit and charm – and his pragmatism, which helped the two diplomats to thrash out “over morning coffee and cakes” a deal that led to the setting up of the interim government led by Hamid Karzai.

Washington has now sanctioned the man who played a pivotal role in that fateful transition in Kabul leading to stabilization in the Hindu Kush. Some gratitude!