The hypocrisy of America’s support for unelected despots in the oil-rich Gulf states is not new, but Donald Trump’s lavish praise for them on Sunday, as allies against “Islamist extremism” and “the oppression of women,” was particularly striking, coming one day after Iranian voters danced in the streets to celebrate their reformist president’s landslide re-election.
Past midnight in #Tehran, #Iran and no end in sight to #IranElections2017 festivities.
These folks are just happy! pic.twitter.com/P9E0szU8HK— Ladane Nasseri (@LadaneNasseri) May 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/reihanetaravati/status/866019416814882816
https://twitter.com/elahakbari/status/865976519520391168
?? ?? ??????? ????? ????? ???? ??? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??? ??? ??? ????? pic.twitter.com/1v0IHdJJvd
— Babak (@Arbaks) May 20, 2017
As Iran’s moderates celebrated on Saturday night, Trump and members of his cabinet were dancing with swords in Saudi Arabia.
Trump: this is beautiful!
King: this is the war dance
Trump: I can see that! #TrumpCantDance pic.twitter.com/0ViNgHhmoo— Weddady (@weddady) May 21, 2017
Speaking in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Sunday, Trump made no mention of the scenes in Iran or of President Hassan Rouhani, whose diplomatic engagement with the West over Iran’s nuclear program helped to avert the war American allies in the region, including the Gulf states and Israel, seemed to be still hoping for.
Trump says all nations must work together to isolate Iran pic.twitter.com/9XZ9gapDwC
— Roxanne Emadi (@roxanneemadi) May 21, 2017
Instead, the American president promised the monarchs and autocrats in the room that he would work with them “to isolate Iran.” He also promised, bizarrely, “to help our Saudi friends to get a good deal” from American arms makers.
https://twitter.com/DavidVujanovic/status/866303952769490944
As Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council observed, Trump seemed to be in full agreement with his host, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, who called Iran’s government “the spearhead of global terrorism.”
Trump is now copy pasting Saudi talking points on Iran. Everything is Iran's fault. Always.
Laying the ground work for war#TrumpinSaudi
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) May 21, 2017
After the speech, Trump accompanied King Salman, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and other leaders to open a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh.
Sisi, Saudi King and Trump put their hands on a glowing orb pic.twitter.com/9aKXl2prjW
— Sylvia Westall (@s_westall) May 21, 2017
In meetings with other monarchs earlier on Sunday, Trump assured the King of Bahrain that relations between the two nations would no longer be strained by a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, and said his discussion with the Emir of Qatar would focus on “the purchase of lots of beautiful military equipment.”
https://twitter.com/NesrineMalik/status/866044518734409728
As the vote-counting in local elections in Iran continued on Sunday, the contrast between Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarchy and the partial democracy there became even more stark with the news that moderates had also won sweeping victories in Tehran and other cities.
Confirmed. Reformists have all seats in Tehran. #IranElections2017 https://t.co/N6GQwO7DlO
— Sadegh Ghorbani (@GhorbaniSadegh) May 21, 2017
Moderates win all seats in local #Iranelection2017 in Tehran, Karaj and Mashad so far. Wow. #Iran
— Dina Esfandiary (@DEsfandiary) May 21, 2017
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, offered a Twitter rebuttal to Trump, suggesting that his support for the Saudi king was driven mainly by the opportunity to sell billions of dollars in American weapons to the kingdom.
Iran—fresh from real elections—attacked by @POTUS in that bastion of democracy & moderation. Foreign Policy or simply milking KSA of $480B? pic.twitter.com/ahfvRxK3HV
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) May 21, 2017
We derive stability not from "coalitions", but from our people, who -unlike many- do vote. Iranians must be respected & are ready to engage.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) May 20, 2017
Even as Rouhani’s supporters celebrated, however, there were reminders of the limits on democracy in Iran — where the elected president serves under the country’s ruling cleric, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In many places, cheers for Rouhani’s victory were accompanied by chants in support of Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, reformist leaders who have been under house arrest since encouraging post-election protests in 2009.
Ghosts linger: "Ya Hossein, Mir-Hossein," Iranians in Tehran chant using slogan from 2009 uprising as they celebrate @HassanRouhani victory. pic.twitter.com/IpdVjXIz3A
— Borzou Daragahi ?? (@borzou) May 20, 2017
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
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I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
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