Friday , 29 March 2024

Is Trump hoping for another Ahmadinejad in Tehran?

Al-monitor – As Iranian emergency workers were racing to remove the rubble of the collapsed Plasco high-rise in Tehran, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Jan. 20.


AUTHOR
Rohollah Faghihi

While Trump was being inaugurated in Washington, people and media in Iran were focused on the debris removal operation following the collapse of the 17-story Plasco building, and as such, paid perhaps less than expected attention to Barack Obama’s departure from the White House.

Ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper wrote on Jan. 21, “The invitation of the leaders of the Zionist regime [Israel] to the inauguration ceremony of Trump raises the question as to what extent the [slogan] of the beginning of a different era in the US is real. Nobody knows which policy Trump will pursue after entering the White House and whether he will fulfill his promises.”

“However, it should be said that under Obama, many were expecting a different president and the wind of ‘change,’ but during the past eight years, there was no news of change and Obama had the same nature as previous US presidents,” argued Kayhan, referring to Iranian Reformists who believed that the issues plaguing the Iran-US relationship would have been resolved with Obama in the White House.

The hard-line Vatan-e Emrooz on Jan. 21 described Trump as an “Old Yankee,” writing that he has “come to rescue his beloved America [too] late, unlike Hollywood movies. He also started his presidency in the White House while wearing a Chinese tie during his inauguration — despite his threats against China.”

Noting the continued issues surrounding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), prominent foreign policy analyst Davoud Hermidas Bavand wrote in the Reformist Arman daily on Jan. 21, “It is unlikely that Trump will make any decision to revoke the [nuclear] deal. Despite the presence of people who have anti-Iran stances in Donald Trump’s Cabinet, as the defense secretary of the Trump administration said, ‘Although the JCPOA is not an appropriate agreement, the US is obliged to honor its commitments,’ … It is unlikely that Trump will cause trouble for himself over a solved issue, which is named the JCPOA.”

Warning about Iran relying on Russia under Trump, Hermidas Bavand added, “Some remarks that are being made [about the new US administration], and especially by the opponents of [President Hassan Rouhani’s] government, it is not necessary to express [such things]. … We can’t ignore America and just be optimistic about our relationship with Russia. The Russians are pursuing their own national interests. They will take maximum advantage of Trump … and we can’t be optimistic that Russia will always have the same policy as us in the region.”

Meanwhile, the Reformist Shargh Daily wrote on Jan. 21, “We should definitely name the presidency [term] of Donald Trump as ‘The Curious Case of Donald Trump.’ Everything about him is strange and in an unusual manner, yet he has been successful so far.”

“But who knows what will happen in the end. Maybe someone should translate the proverb of Iranians that says ‘All is well that ends well,’ and of course, the behavior, measures and demeanor of Trump beyond the normal reminds us of someone special and strange in Iran,” wrote the Reformist daily, implicitly referring to former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In this vein, foreign policy analyst Mahdi Motaharnia warned Iranian policymakers about ending up trapped in Trump’s game, telling the Reformist Vaghaye Etefaghie on Jan. 22, “Trump is looking for another Trump in Tehran in the next [May 2017] presidential election of Iran … so that Iran is the one that tears up the JCPOA. And by tearing up the JCPOA, what would be the result? Another international coalition against Iran.”

He added, “If [the responsibility of] leading the country is given to him [incumbent President Rouhani], he knows very well how to control the game between 2017 and 2021, and how to raise Tehran’s position to the level of the major and great countries of the world.”

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