Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
“For the first time after forty years, Asr-e Ma Weekly has not published any piece on Javad Larijani’s talks with Nick Brown.” Readers of Gol Agha Weekly, might have cracked a smile with this joke, except for Javad Larijani, who was also a contributor to Iran’s most popular satire magazine. For months, he had been enduring fierce attacks from leftist media, ahead of all Asr-e Ma (Our Age), the mouthpiece of Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, and lost support even within his own political camp, over his remarks in diplomatic talks with then Director General for Middle East Affairs in the British Foreign Office. The criticisms effectively terminated an upward career path for a well-spoken and pragmatist politician, the copy-right holder to the oft-quoted phrase: “if necessary, we can even negotiate with Satan at the pit of hell”.
Mohammad Javad Larijani was born in the holy Shia city of Najaf, Iraq, where his father, the respectable cleric Mirza Hashem Amoli, was perusing Islamic jurisprudence in the city’s vibrant seminary. After a brief term of following the family clerical tradition, Larijani entered Iran’s top technical college, the Aryamehr University (now Sanati Sharif) to study electronic engineering. He pursued a doctorate in mathematics in University of California, Berkley, under the supervision of the famous Polish mathematician, Alfred Tarsky.
Like many other overseas students, Larijani returned to Iran amidst the revolution to support a new political system that embodied his ideals, a system within which he easily fitted and soon joined its upper middle strata of power, serving in the 2nd, 4th and 5th parliaments. At the late 1980s, he also served as deputy minister of foreign affairs, where he developed his Umm ul-Qura doctrine. Viewed suspiciously as an interventionist approach outside Iran, the doctrine positioned Iran at the centerpiece of the Muslim World as the “mother of all settlements” -as the Arabic title of the doctrine suggests; one which should function as a showcase system for the viability of Islamic rule, and had to serve as a patron and supporter of the Muslim World and its interests. For Larijani, this is a benign theory however, realist in nature and aiming to marry the revolution’s idealism and pragmatic considerations. During this tenure in the foreign ministry, Larijani was also deeply engaged in negotiations over UN Resolution 598 to end the eight-year war with Iraq. Larijani had “serious differences” with his superior Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati during the strenuous process of negotiations, and that led to some very public dirty linen washing between them, two decades later.
As Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s second term of presidency was coming to an end, parliamentary speaker Akbar Nategh Nouri was preparing to don the presidential garb so the conservatives, already in control of the parliament and the judiciary, would virtually dominate the Iranian politics. Javad Larijani’s epic fail happened less than a year before the elections, when meeting Nick Brown in London, he freely discussed Iran’s political future and the presidential elections. Transcripts of the talks released by his critiques were far from flattering: apparently the aspiring foreign minister was portraying the right as the pro-détente side in Iranian presidential election, vis-à-vis while radicals who supported Mohammad Khatami and who had placed a reward for murdering Salman Rushdie. Larijani had also made the mistake of calling himself a ‘liberal’ -a stigma in Iranian politics.
The wave of attacks that ensued was hard to handle, even when Larijani released his own version of exchanges with Nick Brown. The left did not miss the opportunity to undermine revolutionary credentials of conservatives and to make electoral leverage, up to the point that even Akbar Nategh Nouri had to distance himself from Larijani, calling his comments “personal remarks”. Rumors had it that Larijani was banned from appearing on state-run TV, even though his brother, Ali, was in charge of the broadcasting service. The rest is history: Khatami was the surprise winner of 1997 presidential elections, reformist candidates crushed their conservative rivals, Javad Larijani included, in 1999 parliamentary elections and dominated Iranian politics. Larijani retreated backstage, preferring to serve as conservatives’ low-profile strategist from his seat at the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, a center he had founded in the late 80s.
Larijani engaged in another controversy, minor, in 2007, this time against his former boss, Ali Akbar Velayati. Differences swept under the carpet for years reappeared when in a TV program Javad Larijani mildly criticized his former boss for excessive apprehension over media reaction during ceasefire talks. Velayati retorted, claiming that the Ministry of Intelligence was against Larijani’s continuation of service in the foreign apparatus, an allegation potentially detrimental to one’s revolutionary/political credibility. Larijani refuted dismissed Velayati's remarks, bringing counter-evidence that he continued his service in the National Security Council, presenting "the most accurate analyses and reports" while Velayati was taking “royal naps”.
Political turbulence that ensued the 2009 presidential elections entailed multiple dimensions for Javad Larijani. As the head of the Council for Human Rights, he was at the forefront of countering intensified criticisms of Iran's human rights record, wielding his well-spoken English and his mastery over Western political discourse. The tumults also provided him a platform to regain his revolutionary credentials. Indeed, Javad Larijani was among the vocal critics of the Green Movement, seeing it as an "all-out coup" and "Zionist plot" against the Islamic Republic of Iran. His strong attacks against old political rivals, urged a moderate MP to write him an open letter, reminding Larijani that was probably "not to best way to return to the political stage”.
Larijani’s return to the political stage after 2009 was not void of drawbacks. With burgeoning tensions between Ahmadinejad and Larijanis in the legislative and judiciary, Javad Larijani found himself the target of corruption allegations by pro-government media, despite his occasional strong supports for the president. Documents were published in online media, accusing Larijani of land-grabbing in Varamin, a major agricultural town near Tehran. "For me, these lands are not worth a wing of a fly" Larijani responded nonchalantly, "I'm proud to be a farmer, and to have cultivated a piece of my country's soil, even if it's just a span".
By: Ali Attaran