At the UN, Rouhani Talks Tough

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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If Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sought to project one quality above all others in his address to the UN General Assembly, it was strength. He sought to exude this both as a leader, a president of strong will and character chosen by the Iranian people in a landslide victory, and also tried to present Iran with similar robustness. Iran, he argued, was a stable, secure and peace-loving country, a power to be reckoned with amidst a region beset by chaos. It was, by all measures, an admonition to the West to take Iran seriously, to appreciate its influence, and to recognize its regional weight.

Rouhani arrived late at the assembly hall and as a result delivered his speech later than scheduled, but he was able to finish his 2000-word address swiftly. Apart from brevity, his speech easily outshone recent addresses by previous Iranian presidents; Rouhani knew his text well, and spoke articulately and effectively, pausing for effect and emphasizing certain phrases.

As expected, Rouhani started by discussing the ISIS crisis roiling the Middle East, intimating that the West was to blame for the violence. The West, Rouhani suggested, aimed for the “destruction of civilization, Islamophobia and laying the groundwork for a new intervention in the region by outsiders.”

Rouhani grounded his discussion of culpability for the present conflict to the West’s historical role in the region, arguing that the anti-Western ideology of Sunni extremists was a product of colonialism and colonial racism. Those who gave rise to terrorist groups must apologize, he suggested, though it was unclear precisely which countries he was invoking. He blamed the region’s extremism on the West again later in his speech, hinting that al-Qaeda had emerged from Western policies and that Westerners were now paying the price.

Rouhani’s tone was soft and measured, but the content of his ideas clearly echoed the views and ideology of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. He attacked George W. Bush’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan with sarcasm resonant of recent Khamenei remarks, saying that “democracy cannot be carried in a backpack” and that  “democracy is not a commodity that can be exported from West to East.” He told the West that “when the generals arrive in a region, don’t expect diplomats to welcome them,” and seemed to openly suggested that the extremism currently at work in the region was a ‘natural reaction.’

He praised the idea of a “dialogue among civilizations” espoused by former President Mohammad Khatami and repeated his own notions of “a world free of violence and extremism,” which he put forward in his last speech at the UN. He portrayed Iran as a country that deserves to lead the fight against extremism in the Middle East, and rejected American leadership on grounds of Washington’s hegemonic agenda. “If we don’t have the right approach to confront this issue, we must expect a volatile and disorderly region with international repercussions,” he warned.

Rouhani made the case that the Middle East is home to numerous moderate politicians and elites “who are trusted by their own people” and the voice of these elites “is the real voice of moderate people in the Islamic world.” He went on to include himself among that moderate body.

Rouhani went on to praise Iran extensively, saying it was one of the most stable and safe countries in the region and best placed to play a lead role in solving regional problems. He hinted that Iran was the strongest country in the Middle East but later in his speech he tried to calm fears that Iran wants to dominate the rest of the region. “This is a myth,” he said because the nameless “they” required an illusory enemy to continue tensions and heighten divisions.

In his concluding remarks he talked about sanctions, but from a distinctly threatening position. He denied that Iran has made concessions because of sanctions, arguing that Iranian diplomacy grew out of popular will. He warned that delays in reaching a nuclear agreement would be extremely counterproductive. The price to pay is high, he said, not only for Iran but also for its partners in trade and for region’s security and development. “Nobody should doubt that coming to an agreement with Iran would benefit everybody, especially the countries in the region.”

He described Iran as honest, hopeful, serious and transparent in nuclear negotiations and advised its interlocutors to refrain from excessive demands, because a final agreement would improve security in the region and the world. The other side, he warned, “must not fall for faulty calculations” and “miss an exceptional and historic opportunity.”

Rouhani emphasized that if “we can succeed in finding a comprehensive solution to this issue, then a new atmosphere for regional and international cooperation will emerge which would enable us to focus on solving important regional problems, including fighting violence and extremism.”

At its heart, Rouhani’s address was a nationalist swagger, seeking to present his nation as strong and capable, a natural leader in solving the problems facing the region. He said to the West, in effect: Help lift the sanctions and we will help in ending violence in the Middle East.

Compared to last year, Rouhani took a more ‘revolutionary’ posture. This change of tone could be the result of domestic pressures to conform more with the views of Ayatollah Khamenei, or it could simply be that Rouhani feels the moderate tone he projected last year didn’t project enough brawn.

What is clear is that hardliners in Iran will react positively to his speech. With this year’s address, Rouhani did not take a step closer to the West, but he is now one step closer to Ayatollah Khamenei.

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