Good news for John McCain
Today, fainting couches everywhere were creaking under the weight of warhawks and True 'Muricans as news media reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had
said some not-nice things about the P5+1 talks and the associated nuclear deal.
"Americans put out a statement just a few hours after our negotiators finished their talks ... this statement, which they called a 'fact sheet', was wrong on most of the issues." Khamenei said.
"I was never optimistic about negotiating with America... nonetheless I agreed to the negotiations and supported, and still support, the negotiators," Khamenei said to chants of "Death to America."
Of course, what won't be mentioned by the chest-thumpers both here and abroad, in their "whatever supports my preconceived notions are the only facts that count" logic, is that these negotiations still remain a historical accomplishment - even if a deal is never reached - and Iran's leadership already has a lot invested in changing its national profile to that of a rational actor upon the world stage.
Ultimately, despite language casting the negotiations as riddled with deceptive slights from the malevolent Western powers, Iran's Supreme Leader still suggested that:
"I support a deal that preserves the interests and honor of Iran."
The horror.
More below the fold.
Reading through the various write-ups on this issue, as detailed in bluto211's earlier diary, the thing that stands out is the balancing act that Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani seem to be doing to ultimately sell these negotiations to critics of the deal at home. This juggling act curiously reflects the same sort of sell job the Obama Administration is undertaking to navigate the minefield of right-wing opponents, special interests, and America's conflict-for-profit media outlets in the U.S.
In fact, it's pretty clear that both sides want a deal, but both sides are also saddled with internal detractors that would like nothing more than to up-end any deal. When the negotiators mention "the hard road ahead," the reference certainly includes the need of each side to convince their own respective audiences that they have out-foxed their enemy counterparts and "won."
The hardline rhetoric from Iran's leaders is belied by the fact that Iran has visibly committed itself coming to the table in the first place. Even some of the usual war drum beaters in the U.S. media seem to be acknowledging the need for the participating governments to garb the negotiations in whatever passes as patriotism at home:
Mr. Khamenei’s comments on Thursday appeared carefully parsed. While his skepticism was seen by some Iranians as an attempt to appease the hard-liners, he was also careful not to undermine moderate President Hasan Rouhani and his team of nuclear negotiators led by Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
Like a game of
whisper down the lane, the announced framework is being reshaped
depending on who is talking about it. According to the Obama Administration, the framework will lead to a better deal for the P5+1 nations than anyone could have hoped. According to Iran's leaders, the framework will lead to the trouncing of the Western powers at the negotiating table, or might not happen at all. And of course, according to the warhawks, it was a bad deal before anyone had any idea of what the deal was.
Republicans are predictably pointing to the Iranian rhetoric as proof that Iran was negotiating in bad faith. But Sen. Tom Cotton's contingent has its own messaging issues to sort out, as the GOP base is apparently less monolithicly aligned on scuttling the deal than Cotton's backers and bumbling letter signers might wish.
These critics are, of course, willing to grasp at straws. Running out the clock, poisoning the well of public opinion, and plowing under any deal that does emerge are all viable options for the pro-war crowd. And the rhetoric used by the negotiating countries is sure to work to the hardliners' advantage in this regard. Both sides in the negotiations will need to cast what must ultimately be a compromise as a thorough victory. Which means that, until a deal is reached, both sides must do their best to work around their hardliners and reach an agreement that rational people can live with, regardless of the rhetoric required to get there.