Rafsanjani’s Daughter Defends Remark that Trump was Good for Iran

Faezeh Hashemi, Ensaf News
Faezeh Hashemi, Ensaf News
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Rafsanjani’s Daughter Defends Remark that Trump was Good for Iran

Faezeh Hashemi, Ensaf News
Faezeh Hashemi, Ensaf News

Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, slammed a number of figures and parties in Iran for being “more dangerous bullies” than the outgoing US President Donald Trump.

Hashemi accused those she addressed of placing the country on the “verge of destruction.”

In an open letter, she responded to harsh criticism she had received from members of her family and fellow comrades in the Executives of Construction Party.

Hashemi had made highly controversial statements earlier in support of Trump’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran and said that chances for reform in the cleric-led country are diminished now that US President-elect Joe Biden will rise to power.

Responding to her brother, Mohsen Hashemi, who had asked her to apologize, Hashemi on Tuesday accused him of “mapping a future for himself” and seeking to “protect his interests,” an apparent reference to plans beyond his current position as Chairman of Tehran’s City Council.

She reiterated that Iran’s leaders had pursued policies wasting resources and leading the country to a dead-end.

The war of words between Hashemi and her brother on the fourth anniversary of their father’s death has made headlines in Iranian newspapers.

The official newspaper affiliated with the Executives of Construction Party ran a front page displaying a picture of Hashemi and her brother under the headline “Brother Slams Sister.”

“In Iran, there are individuals and entities that are far more dangerous than Trump in bullying and failing to abide by rules and regulation. They have put the country on the slippery slope of ineffectiveness, mismanagement and inefficiency, dogmatism and even taking it to the point of collapse at times,” Hashemi said in defense of her statements.

In an implicit reference to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who is considered a moderate reformer, Hashemi said: “These days we are witnessing deviations that are much deeper than that caused by Ahmadinejad.”



Türkiye to Press Allies for Access to EU Defense Funds

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File
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Türkiye to Press Allies for Access to EU Defense Funds

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File

Türkiye will press European allies which plan to sharply ramp up their defense spending to ease restrictions that now require most of that money to be spent in the EU, Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters on Wednesday ahead of a NATO meeting.

In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler also said Türkiye hopes a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Tayyip Erdogan will finally yield progress in lifting US sanctions that expelled Türkiye from the F-35 jet program.

Guler said Türkiye , which has the second biggest army in NATO after the United States, has advanced capabilities in areas such as drones, which would be valuable to its allies as they plan major new spending on defense.

"Allies need to spend not only more, but also smarter – and there is a need for more cooperation than ever before," Guler said when asked about Trump's call on the alliance to ramp up defense spending to target 5% of output.

Many European nations have announced plans for major increases in defense spending. The EU itself, driven by fears of a Russian attack and doubts about US security commitments, has approved creating a 150 billion-euro ($170 billion) EU arms fund to boost the defense industry, labelled the SAFE scheme.

But it mandates that 65% of projects are funded by firms in the bloc, the broader European Economic Area, or Ukraine.

Guler said such restrictions would exclude non-EU countries like Türkiye from Europe's defense and security architecture, which he said was "an issue that cannot be discussed only within the EU".

Türkiye wants to "build the security of the future together" with the EU, and would continue to work with "open-minded and visionary European allies within or outside SAFE," he said, specifically listing drones, air defenses, naval systems, armoured vehicles and land platforms, electronic warfare and radar systems, ammunition and rocket systems.

Greece, Türkiye's longstanding adversary, has demanded Ankara lift a lift a 30-year old war threat over territorial waters to be permitted to access EU defense funds. Guler said such demands were a mistake, amounting to "involving multilateral platforms in bilateral disputes".

Ankara's defense cooperation with its NATO allies has been hampered in recent years by US sanctions imposed over a Turkish decision to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems, which resulted in Türkiye's expulsion from the US-led F-35 program as both a buyer and manufacturer of the advanced jets.

Erdogan has expressed confidence that Trump, with whom he has good personal ties, will find a solution that relieves Türkiye's defense industry of the sanctions.

A potential meeting between Erdogan and Trump, and the close ties between them, can "breathe new life" into bilateral defense ties and help lift the sanctions, Guler said. Although Ankara would not give up the S-400s, lifting the sanctions would let it consider returning to the F-35 project, he said.