Zarif: Correcting perception prevents inflammatory wars / Americans suffer from a lack of perception / The Iranian threat always backfires

Zarif: Correcting perception prevents inflammatory wars / Americans suffer from a lack of perception / The Iranian threat always backfires

Mohammad Javad Zarif, former Foreign Minister, at a ceremony unveiling his latest works, assessed the psychological and epistemological roots of international crises, analyzing the miscalculations of the U.S. foreign policy apparatus and Benjamin Netanyahu's destructive role in pushing Washington's importance toward "a proper military confrontation with Tehran."

Strategic error in threatening the Iranian nation and the concept of "perceptual dissonance"

Zarif recalled one of his clear stances during the nuclear negotiations: "Once, in the midst of discussions on the sanctions mechanism, I stated in the JCPOA (JCPOA) meetings that 'one never threatens an Iranian.' The experiences of more than four decades of my direct activity in diplomacy and foreign policy prove that threatening the Iranian nation always leads to completely opposite results and that these people have never surrendered and will never bow before threatening literature."

When asked why Washington repeatedly resorts to a failed policy against Iran, he said: Are Americans harming themselves and deliberately seeking to harm themselves? No; the main root of this behavior lies in a cognitive deficit. The inability to properly understand the reality of Iranian society and sovereignty has provided a platform for Benjamin Netanyahu to deceive the American ruling apparatus and drag them into this dangerous vortex of military attack against Iran; a vortex that, unfortunately, we continue to witness the return of illusions surrounding.

A chain of miscalculations; from the abrogation of the JCPOA to military aggression 🔹 The former foreign minister stated, linking the hostile decisions of recent years to the disruption of the White House computing system: If you look closely at the course of events, you will find that the illegal exit from the JCPOA is rooted in this poor perception and miscalculation. The recent military attack was created precisely on the basis of these illusions and the misunderstanding of reality and national reality.

He added: The signing of the memorandum of understanding after that violent confrontation was also due to the fact that decision-makers in Washington realized after seven days what a strategic and costly mistake they had made; therefore, perceptual disorder is not a secondary issue, but a fundamental crisis at the international level that leads structures to the abyss of war, destruction, and bloodshed.

The intersubjective nature of human relations and the mission of correcting perceptions Referring to the historic statement of UNESCO, Zarif noted: Now more than ever, I understand why it was wisely stated in the preamble of the UNESCO Constitution that "wars begin in the minds of men." Conflicts are born in the mental structure of decision-makers before they appear on the battlefield. Human and international relations are "intersubjective" by nature; accordingly, if we as political and intellectual actors focus on mental correction, we can prevent the occurrence of many disasters and tensions that are simply the result of flawed views and perceptions.

Finally, the former foreign minister emphasized: Undoubtedly, factors such as malice, hegemonic ambitions, personal interest, and disregard for moral and humanitarian principles have always existed in the field of international politics and will probably remain forever; but this fact never means inaction against miscalculations. One must not refrain from correcting mistaken perceptions; reducing and curbing the problem of misinterpretations and perceptual errors is one of the most fundamental principles and needs that must be focused on in all analytical and strategic dimensions.