The presence of Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs at the Davos Summit and his remarks during the question-and-answer session with Fareed Zakaria have received extensive coverage in political and media circles in recent days.
The second act of this street power play by the opponents, whose permission from official authorities is unclear, was displayed yesterday in the speeches and remarks of some parliamentarians, where the tenants of Baharestan (the Iranian parliament) addressed the issue and used harsh language similar to the shrouded protesters in Pasteur Square, directing their vitriol at Zarif. In the meantime, even the Speaker of the Parliament, while criticizing the remarks of Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs, did not escape the sharp edge of the street opponents and protesting representatives.
As expected, party and media outlets, each according to their own inclinations, took their desired stances on the matter. The right-wing spoke of the indecency of discussing internal issues in front of foreigners, while the left-wing praised Zarif's intelligence in cleverly defending the dynamic identity of the system. This attack and defense, as long as it remains within the bounds of polite and conventional criticism, is not only not worrisome or destructive but may even be necessary and beneficial. This article, without taking sides in the dispute, prefers to point out an issue beyond the apparent controversies and calls on the pillars of the government of national unity, especially Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs, to reflect on it.
Sooner or later, the passage of time will cover the Davos incident and Zarif's question-and-answer session with Fareed Zakaria with the dust of forgetfulness. The speed and multiplicity of news-making topics in Iran are so high that a new subject will soon emerge, pushing the Davos events out of the first level of attention of politicians. What remains constant in the meantime is the lack of sensitivity towards strategic and fundamental national issues.
Masoud Pezeshkian, recognizing a fundamental necessity, established a new organization called the "Strategic Deputy of the President" and appointed one of the old statesmen of Iran to lead it.
Naturally, as the name of this organization suggests, the first and most important task and function of this department is to design fundamental strategies for the executive branch. With such an initiative, the government has the opportunity to break free from the daily routine of the executive domain and implement its programs, slogans, and priorities at a deeper and more fundamental level.
The strategic deputy department, as the rational faculty and the "separate intellect" of the government, can act as the highest authority for "decision-making" and provide the results of its findings to the government's decision-makers. Governments, by forming such structures, increase their software power and richness and escape the exhausting trap of daily tasks. Such organizations can be found in many political systems around the world.
The question now is how Mohammad Javad Zarif, as the head of the newly established strategic deputy department, has performed in organizing and managing it? Can we hope that this deputy will continue in this direction and move towards creating a powerful, intelligent, and effective research institution, playing a role in determining the government's strategies and priorities? Although the Strategic Deputy of the President has been established for more than six months, its performance should be assessed critically. Undoubtedly, the interventions and even the harassment of the government's opponents or Zarif's adversaries have had a noticeable impact during this period, but are there any reliable signs of the formation of a capable software structure within it?
Holding a beneficial conference for the conceptualization of national unity was probably the most important action of the Strategic Deputy of the President since its establishment. Undoubtedly, the design and implementation of such a meeting to conceptualize and clarify the government's main slogan and program, national unity, was a necessity.
Nevertheless, society expects this newly established organization to reasonably and quickly compile a list of the government's strategic priorities and move towards designing an action plan for them. Perhaps some political activists would have preferred Zarif to use the Davos opportunity as a gathering of global political and economic elites to explain more significant and fundamental strategies. Speaking about the electoral rivals of Pezeshkian is something that even the media officials of the Presidency can do. What is appropriate for the Strategic Deputy of the President is to raise more decisive issues in negotiations with the Davos elites.
Strategic issues such as energy imbalances, regional agreements, collective efforts to reduce illogical sanctions against countries, reasonable and humane conditions for international negotiations, assisting Southern countries in coping with the consequences of drought, joint investments to address environmental threats, attracting global capital to improve education and health, facilitating interactions and travel between citizens of different countries, and so on are just some of the issues that an important institution like the Strategic Deputy of the President is expected to raise and pursue in an important forum like Davos. As an experienced diplomat, Zarif is more aware than anyone of the significant potential of places like Davos and has the ability to utilize such international opportunities. In this regard, wouldn't it have been more prudent for him to highlight more strategic issues, in accordance with his organization's mandate, and avoid discussing daily and transient matters?
This is not to sympathize with the radicals who used inappropriate language to ridicule Zarif's statements. The radical and illogical positions expressed from the parliament's podium or on the streets are indefensible by any standard. The purpose of this article is to remind readers of a damaging absence in the field of identifying and understanding national strategies.
Given that the government of national unity has established a deputy as significant as the Strategic Deputy to reflect on strategic issues, it is expected that the senior officials of this institution will focus their efforts on fundamental and strategic matters and avoid controversial daily issues.
NOURNEWS