RAPIDITY OF ASSASSINATIONS MEANS NEGOTIATIONS INTERRUPTED REGULARLY AND HAVE TO START FROM SCRATCH EACH TIME; SMILING BANNED

TEHRAN

THE CONTINUOUS ASSASSINATIONS of leadership figures in Iran means that talks, between the Islamic Republic and its American counterpart, keep having to be halted to allow Tehran’s negotiators take fresh instructions from whoever is leading them at a particular moment, even if it is only for a moment.

“The rapidity of the assassination program means that often a new Iranian leader is dead even before he’s been officially confirmed, which leads to huge confusion and delay in the current negotiations,” explained international law expert Hermann Nuremberg. “The Israelis and Americans have moved from actual leadership figures, to potential leadership figures, and even men who are just generally popular in the Iranian political and military structures. Several times, men who were third, fourth, even fifth choices for particular jobs, were assassinated before they could even be nominated for a post. Iranian politicians, mullahs and soldiers are asking colleagues not to mention their names positively for fear that it will make them a target for assassination. Even smiling has been forbidden among these people.”