How Iranian Print Outlets Welcomed Donald Trump
Iranian press outlets have seen Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential race as quake, storm, riot and shock. While hardliner Kayhan daily has described it as the "victory of a lunatic over a liar", pro-reform Arman and Ebtekar called it a ‘Trumpquake’. Reformist Shahrvand daily and principlist Javan both find it an American revolt. Municipality's organ Hamshahri’s headlines reads "Americans against America", too. Shargh Daily see it as the ‘Trump Storm’ while another pro-reform newspaper, Vaghaye, labels it a political tsunami in the United States. Jam-e-Jam, the organ of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), called it the Trump shock and the reform-minded Etemad headlined ‘World Wary of Trump’s America’. Hardliner bellwether Vatan Emrooz covered the news with a Persian translation of the TV series House of Cards, reading "The Straw House". Iran daily, the official organ of the Iranian administration, saw the world in shock over Trump’s becoming the new White House keyholder.
In an editorial piece published in Shahrvand, reformist politician Abbas Abdi advised against weird speculations on Trump's likely steps and policies. He argued that Americans have not voted him for his foreign policy stances and thus they could be negotiated, urging Iran to avoid hasty reactions, positive or negative.
The United States and Trump do not have a free hand to do whatever they want, he wrote. “Forget their slogans, Trump ultimately wants to resolve the United States domestic problems. However, you should not forget caution when faced with a bull,” he added.
Former director-general of the Iran’s Foreign Ministry Javid Ghorban-Oghli believes that Trump’s victory does not signify the Republicans’ victory. “It was the revolt of American people who sought to raise someone to power who had no congruity with the country’s present [political] structure. The slogan ‘Make America Great Again’ led Americans to try to re-turn the America into a superpower under Trump,” he wrote in Etemad daily.
In Javan daily’s editorial, former IRGC deputy for political affairs Yadollah Javani argues that Democrats or Republican makes no difference for Iran, given US hostility with the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation. However, he believes, Trump's and Republicans' evident hostility is less dangerous than veiled enmity of Hillary Clinton and Democrats, and thus Republicans should be preferred on the part of Iran.
The winner of the election were angry masses and the loser were ignorant elites, read Shargh daily’s editorial penned by US pundit Amir-Ali Abolfath.
“The election was a battle over being America and becoming America: The first group was proud of whatever is America while the second sought a better one. The first group advocated the status quo and the second enthused over change. The first group has money, influence, and media. The only thing the second group had was hope, for a better economy, more jobs, and wider security. A blunt, independent and deconstructionist individual became the embodiment of the hope. A man who made presidents from inside the ruling establishment decided to run and turned into the savior of the poor and the stricken from numerous political, economic, social and identity crises, despite his own multi-billion-dollar wealth.”
Kayhan’s Sa’dollah Zarei deems it unlikely for Donald Trump to ever want to fulfill his campaign promises, as much as it is unlikely for the Republican Party to allow him to do so and bring a remarkable transformation to the American system. He then goes on to compare Obama’s motto of 'change', noting his promises of terminating US military interventions and closing Guantanamo. Zarei says Obama failed to keep his vows and continued George W. Bush’s path.
Tehran University Professor Ebrahim Mottaghi wrote an article published in Arman daily calling Trump a fundamentalist. “Fundamentalists tend to negate the structure and this paves the way for their popularity. Trump’s emphasis on domestic issues indicate that his focus will be domestic,” he wrote. However, Mottaghi finds Trump’s victory in the interest of Iran, noting that the US president-elect’s main enemy is the ISIS and that it could serve as a common ground between Iran and the United States. Furthermore, he argues that Trump’s approach to Iran’s nuclear dossier does not have an adventurist nature. “Even though the political rhetoric and cognitive personality of individuals like Eisenhower, Nixon, and Reagan had an aggressive nature, experience in US foreign policy shows that these individuals use cooperation in international conflicts,” he added.
Member of Geneva Institute for International Studies Reza Nasri urges Iranian people and officials in an article published in Iran daily that to beware that Trump’s presidency will bring heavy legal and social consequences for Muslim Iranians living in the United States. He calls on Tehran to make preparations for their return, saying Iran’s diplomatic apparatus’ smart action could bring abundant opportunities, as the Iranian nationals living in the US are material, spiritual and scientific assets to the nation.