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Iranian regimes Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif/caption
The Iranian regimes Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
on Sunday claimed the United States is the source of the problems in Afghanistan Iraq Syria and Yemen. Within minutes the regimes apologists in the United States taking his claim at face value began retweeting Tehrans talking points. But just how much trust can be placed on the claims of Iranian officials first and foremost Zarif its chief propagandist? Lets look at some of their recent bold face lies:
1: As reports emerged of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) breaking out in the city of Qom and hospitals overflowing with patients at least a dozen senior officials
flat-out denied there were any cases of the virus in Iran. Suddenly on Monday a
senior lawmaker from Qom announced that at least 50 people had died from the virus in that city alone. Irans Deputy Health Minister who had denied that figure admitted the next day that he too had contracted the virus. The Iranian democratic
opposition to the regime says the authorities resorted to a cover-up to ensure a high turnout for the recent sham Parliamentary election. But as a result of keeping people in the dark the virus rapidly spread to different parts of Iran (with at least
650 deaths reported by the opposition) and to neighboring countries.
2: In January when the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) shot down a Ukrainian civilian airliner over Tehran killing all 176 passengers the government spokesman citing mechanical failure
strongly denied the plane was downed by an Iranian missile. Only after amateur
footage of the plane being shot down began to circulate on social media and Western governments release of intelligence implicating the regime did the authorities fess up the truth.
3: Last November when Iran protests broke out over rising gas prices and quickly turned into calls for regime change Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered the IRGC to open fire on protesters while his regime shut down Irans internet to prevent images from getting out. The opposition Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK or PMOI)
announced at least 1500 protesters including children had been killed. That figure was later confirmed both by a
Reuters investigation and by the US Administration. To this day more than 100 days after the uprising the regime continues to deny the death toll and refuses to give its own tally. Officials and various agencies including President Hassan Rouhani the Supreme National Security Council Rouhanis Spokesman the Interior Minister and the Coroners Office
deflect the announcement of the figures to each other. Officials also deny falsely that security forces shot unarmed protesters even though hundreds of video clips are available on social media many showing
scenes of security forces opening fire on them at point blank range.
Some earlier examples of Iranian regime deception:
On August 14 2002 the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
held a conference in Washington DC revealing the regimes secret nuclear weapons production sites triggering a United Nations probe and international sanctions on the regime. The mullahs meanwhile claim they have never had a nuclear weapons program.
Irans regime claims it had no role in the string of attacks last year on oil tankers in the Gulf even though
US surveillance caught IRGC officers removing an unexploded mine from one of the damaged tankers. The regime also lied when it denied any role in the drone and cruise missile attack on Saudi Arabias oil infrastructure.
In 2018 when European
police caught a senior Iranian diplomat red-handed personally handing over explosives to terrorists to attack the annual rally of the Iranian opposition in Paris Zarif announced that this was a
false flag operation. (For the past 20 months that diplomat-terrorist has been in a Belgian jail cell awaiting trial.)
About their human rights record
Zarif claims: We do not jail people for their opinions". Tell that to the several thousand protesters who were arrested in November alone.
In fact Zarif is a serial liar. When he was asked by ABC News why the Supreme Leader had called the Holocaust a myth Zarif claimed this was a bad translation by his website. Not true.
Heres the footage of the Supreme Leaders repugnant remarks.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been very candid about what to make of Zarifs claims. In September
he told Fox News: As for Zarif I dont know why anybody listens to him. He has nothing to do with Iranian foreign policy. He lies all the time."
In 2015 the Obama Administration agreed to the now-defunct nuclear deal with Irans regime. Without second guessing the thought process of then-Secretary of State John Kerry while securing the deal perhaps the greatest underlying flaw was to take serial liars at their word.
A major problem today is the amount of coverage given to the regimes talking points and talking heads by much of the US mainstream media. Looking at some of these reports the unsuspecting reader would be left with the impression that the regime has
strong domestic support is
the victim of US aggression and is
leading the fight against global terrorism. That sort of commentary routinely appears in state-run dailies in Tehran. As to why its being repeated by some US media groups remains a mystery.
Hanif Jazayeri is a news editor and Iranian opposition activist. Twitter: @HanifJazayeri
