Images of Iran’s Oil Minister and Senior Military Officials Meeting with Russian Ambassador Spark Backlash

Another Twitter user under the name “Second Class Citizen” expressed the opinion that “no country has struck us as hard as Russia.”

Another user named “Diako” described the meeting of Islamic Republic military officials with the Russian ambassador as “a meeting of a commander with his soldiers.”

Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, university professor and spokesman for Mohammad Khatami’s government, also wrote: “Look at the image of how the Russian Grand!! ambassador is standing with such pride!”

Some social media users used the phrase “commander’s salute” for this meeting, referring to the “commander’s salute” ceremony at Azadi Stadium celebrating Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Another user named “Cheshmeh Abi” (Blue Spring), referring to the line of Islamic Republic military officials to shake hands with Levan Jagaryan, whom he called a “low-ranking” Russian ambassador, wrote that “it means no regime like the Islamic Republic has had the capacity to humiliate Iran and Iranians to this extent.”

Conservatives have not reacted to this meeting, while they severely opposed it when Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of the Rouhani government, met with his American counterpart John Kerry during nuclear negotiations and walked together.

The Russian ambassador’s meeting with Iranian military officials takes place several weeks after a Moscow-based newspaper quoted Jagaryan as saying that “mandatory hijab and the prohibition of alcoholic beverages” in Iran are two major obstacles to Russian citizens traveling to the country.

In the past, some of the Russian ambassador’s actions in Iran, including publishing images of his tribute at the monument to Alexander Griboyedov, the architect of the Turkmenchay Treaty, and his criticism of Persian-language foreign media outlets such as Radio Farda, had been controversial.

In another instance, in August 2021, the joint photo of the Russian and British ambassadors to commemorate the Tehran Conference of 1943 sparked widespread reactions in Iran, including among current and former Islamic Republic officials, such that Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador and the British ambassador for explanation.