The story of Khamenei's cat and mouse

Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei has slammed the European Union over Tehran's continued commitment to the international nuclear deal, as well as his criticism of the United States. Deutsche Welle commentator Jamshid Barzgar writes that the only thing that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his latest speech is the following: "America is famous (television cartoon) Like Tom and Jerry will lose again. We have never for a moment doubted that the enemy will lose and anyone who is aware of Islamic teachings knows this. ” Khamenei has in the past referred to the same American cartoon series called "Tom and Jerry" to explain America's alleged weaknesses. Tom is a male cat, who, despite his great and constant struggle, never succeeds in his efforts to catch Jerry. Seven years ago, in a meeting with then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Khamenei said, "When one sees the United States, one must think of Tom." A lot of running, a lot of noise, a lot of hard work and finally the audience as well as Tom himself far beyond his own expectations. This is really the case. In the end, it all depends on how clever and smart someone is. " This is practically the case. With ingenuity and wisdom, Iran has managed to figure out how to deal with long-term sanctions. The non-transparent process of trade in Iranian oil and products and the acquisition of foreign exchange during the embargo also led to wider corruption in the country's economy, unprecedented. But it was this (in Khamenei's words) that led to "blackmail-like sanctions" that led Iran to end its controversial nuclear program or to tighten its grip on it. The point is, no seriousness is possible about what Ali Khamenei once again referred to Tom and Jerry about the future failure of the United States. Similarly, the refusal of the Iranian Supreme Leader to hold further talks with the European Union cannot be considered credible. However, the truth is that the Iranian negotiators will do their best to get at least some basic guarantees from European countries. Due to its internal problems, Iran is not capable of rejecting the European negotiating offer and threatening to resume uranium enrichment at its nuclear facilities. It also seems to be an unattainable desire for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to impose conditions on Tehran that cannot be met. Ali Khamenei has achieved just one goal with his latest stance: he has made life difficult for Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign affairs chief, and easy for US President Donald Trump. What is the new way forward for Iran now, Khamenei will probably clarify in one of his next speeches. In one of his forthcoming speeches, he may say that sometimes it is wise for a person to soften or change his position so that in the end the ultimate victory belongs to him. The problem is that talking about Tom and Jerry will not give the Iranian leadership any new impetus. Therefore, if the Iranian leadership decides to cite cat stories again, according to Jamshid Barzgar, it will also be forced to cite a story of a cat and a rat by Obaid Zakani of medieval Iran. will go. In this story, the rats revolt against a cat and eventually the cat eats them one by one.