Iranian press review: Conservatives attack plan to disarm Hezbollah
Iranian press review: Conservatives attack plan to disarm Hezbollah
Analysts say Lebanon army’s plan serves Israel
Efforts to disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon have drawn sharp criticism from hard-line and conservative groups in Iran, calling them a project designed to serve Israel’s interests in the region.
While Iranian officials have stayed silent on the Lebanese army’s proposed five-stage disarmament plan, journalists and analysts close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have openly attacked it.
Fataneh Gholami, writing in the IRGC-linked Fars news agency, said the plan’s real aim is to remove Hezbollah from the region’s political arena.
“The US and its allies, under the guise of security and reconstruction, are seeking to disarm Hezbollah; not out of national concern, but as a step toward eliminating this key player from the region,” Gholami wrote.
Mahsa Hanifeh, on the website of Iran’s state broadcaster, also described the plan as one imposed on Lebanon by the US and Israel, calling it contrary to Lebanon’s national will.
“The US and Zionists’ pressure to disarm Hezbollah is part of a larger project to reshape the region for Zionist interests,” she wrote.
Hanifeh argued that Israel’s strategy in the region revolves around expanding borders and dominating neighbouring territories.
She wrote: “After relative success in weakening the resistance in Gaza, the Zionist regime is now targeting Hezbollah, and next will move against Iran, Yemen and other resistance fronts. This pattern is clear in the recent attacks on Yemen and threats against Iran’s uranium reserves.”
Renaming of US defence department causes stir
President Donald Trump’s order to rename the US Department of Defence the Department of War has sparked widespread conern in Iran, with some interpreting it as a message in the wake of US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.
Reformist analyst Abolfazl Khodai said the move was as an adoption of a war posture and an escalation of Trump’s military threats against countries not aligned with US policies.
He stressed the change signals a return to the interventionist military policies and strategies of former president Harry Truman at the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War.
“This return is reminiscent of the Truman era, which is remembered for unexpected and controversial decisions such as the atomic bombing of Japan, the start of the Cold War, the Marshall Plan, the establishment of Nato, and the Korean War.
“Now, Trump, who came to power with the promise of ending wars and bringing peace to the world, has not only failed to end any war so far, but is also fuelling new wars.”
The Javan daily, which the IRGC runs, also described the name change as a sign of America’s desire to start new wars.
The daily wrote: “This name change in the Trump administration is not just symbolic, but a strategy to create new wars in the world with the aim of weakening emerging powers and preserving America’s superpower status.”
Reformists push for Iran-US talks despite attacks
Despite Israeli and US attacks on Iran, while a round of negotiations between Tehran and Washington was ongoing, figures close to the reformist politicians continue to support the resumption of talks.
Ali Motahari, a former representative and political figure, wrote a letter to President Masoud Pezeshkian asking him to personally meet and negotiate with Trump.
“I suggest that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announce that if the US abandons the requirement of zero enrichment, guarantees it will not attack again, and commits to paying damages for the recent attack, President Pezeshkian is ready to negotiate with Trump in a third country or during his visit to New York at the United Nations,” the letter read.
Motahari added that if the negotiations succeed, it will be in Iran’s interest, and if not, at least Iran’s position will be clarified through diplomacy.
Behzad Nabavi, a reformist political activist who has been arrested several times and imprisoned for six years, also supported Iran’s plan to negotiate with the United States.
Although conservative and hard-line groups strongly oppose such talks, Nabavi said: “Negotiating with the United States before the 12-day war was logical, and trying to negotiate with the United States in the future is also wise. Negotiations with Europe must also continue.”
Hospital staff charged after women shown without headcover
The Iranian judiciary has charged officials at Sarem Hospital in Tehran with what it called “indecent behaviour and immoral acts".
The news was announced by the Iranian judiciary’s media centre after a video was posted on X showing some women walking on the podium to receive awards at a hospital graduation ceremony without covering their hair.
Another factor believed to have led to the legal prosecution of the hospital director and his staff is that some women hugged the director to thank him.
The judiciary has not yet announced the exact charges, but since the crackdown on the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement in 2022, Iranian women continue to face legal action if they ignore the country’s mandatory hijab law.
In response, Mohammad Reza Yazdikhah, an Iranian economic expert, wrote on X: “I wish the judiciary would show this sensitivity towards violations of Islamic law that are millions of times greater.
“Violations that, through policies that harm the national currency and make life harder for the people, end up undermining both their religion and faith.”
* Iranian press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.
