Staffan Lindberg, the Foreign reporter of  Aftonbladet newspaper, interviewed with H.E Ahmad Masoumifar the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Stockholm in written. The  interview (below) has been published in the website of the mentioned newspaper on Oct.18. 2022    As Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Sweden, what is your view regarding the current situation of political unrest in your country?   The unfortunate passing of a young woman while in police custody is bitter and painful news for us Iranians. In the aftermath, many of our people and top officials, including the President himself, demanded a special investigation and immediate judicial attention into the issue.   In such an emotionally fraught context, adversarial states' actors saw an opportunity to harvest decades of investment in the destabilization of our country and guide civil protest towards insurrectionist violence. The mass shootings carried out by separatist terror organizations with established links to foreign sponsorship further complimented this co-option of legitimate civil protest towards interventionist and imperialistic agendas.   I’m sure I don’t have to remind a professional journalist of the distinction between civil protest and organized terrorism or any other form of unsanctioned violence that targets innocent civilians and public property. You must be familiar with the long history of how the conflation of this distinction has been used many times over to justify foreign aggression against the peoples of our regionoranti-imperialistic nations in the Global South more broadly.   The autopsy report of Mahsa Amini, on which every major medical organization of Iran was a participant, concluded that based on her medical history, a CT scan of her brain and lungs, examination of the corpse, pathology, and necropsy that the death was caused by severe hypoxia and subsequent brain failure. In this special case, the report has been made public and is open to be medically peer-reviewed.   This finding seriously questions the narrative spread across Western media which claim Amini was “severely beaten” by Iranian police before falling into a coma. The unrest has subsumed in recent days, but Iran holds Western nations responsible and accountable for their role in fueling the unrests and the losses incurred on the civilians and authorities who have been its victims.   Women in Iran are tearing off their head scarves and burning them. What is your response to this?   We do not have a monolithic society in Iran. You are talking about a nation of 85 million. To use the term “Iranian Women” is a gross generalization. A few weeks ago, millions of women demonstrated in favor of the hijab too.   You might be less familiar with this. It has unfortunately become far too prevalent in the West to rely on stereotype and anecdote to depict a universal and timeless metaphysical conflict between religious fanaticism and liberal tolerance instead of careful analysis of particular (and therefore changing) circumstances. Iran is a country that makes decisions for legislation through direct representatives of the popular vote. If the popular vote changes, so will laws and regulations.   Protestors have been met with massive force what is the reason behind this brutality?   There can never be a reason behind brutality. The word “reason” implies a justified cause and brutality is not justified in our view.   The question itself contains a judgment statement. Civil protest in Iran is legal and protected under the law. Vandalism, unsanctioned violence against civilians and authorities, murder, and transnational terrorism however are not.   For example, in the recent attacks by Jaish ul-Adl, a militant Salafi jihadist group mainly operating in southeastern Iran, 19 were killed and more than 20 were injured including civilians. I would not describe this as “protest”. Murder, armed attacks, and violence is not appeased by the security forces of any country that I know of, including Iran.   What is the reason the state should decide what women can wear?   Iran is a Muslim majority country. This policy was put to a vote and the people’s representatives voted for it. However, there is an ongoing national dialogue on this policy. Both sides have their arguments, and you should refer to this extensive discourse to find the recurring themes of each side's perspective.   But for a foreign readership, I would say Iran’s internal affairs are for Iranians and Iranians alone to discuss and engage with. Any foreign interference or active participation in Iran’s social and domestic affairs is an instance of cultural imperialism that I do not wish to perpetuate.   Do you, personally, support the idea of a morality police stopping women on the streets for not wearing proper clothes?   I am speaking to you here as the Ambassador, my personal opinions are not relevant. But if my opinions on Iran’s domestic policies were ever critical, as a patriot, I would certainly not be expressing them to anyone other than my compatriots in Iran. I can say that the implantation methods of law constantly evolve and change.   What is your personal opinion on women’s rights?   I believe women’s rights are a moral necessity. As a Muslim, I believe men and women are created spiritually equal and a lack of social equity between them is a great sin. I believe Iran, like every other country, has had an unfortunate history of patriarchy.   The revolution helped bring women to the forefront and dispel this ridiculous false dichotomy between Islam and women’s empowerment and show that there are other ways of resistance to patriarchy other than accepting superimposed Western identity. We came from staggeringly high statistics of illiteracy among women to having a higher male to female ratio in university-level education than countries like the UK or Japan.   Today women are making great contributions to our nation from representing their country at the highest levels as Ambassadors, MPs and Ministers to driving progress as scientists, and artists, but there is still a long way to go.   Do you, yourself, have daughters? If so, what future do you wish for them in Iran?   Yes, I have a daughter and I wish for her a future where she never has to experience the suffering and destitute experienced by the women of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and many more whose countries were reduced to ruins and peoples killed by Western aggression. And I wish that she never has to be at mercy of Western domination whose net effect on the world in the past 500 years has been nothing but pain, suffering, colonialism, and destruction for the masses. That’s why I joined the revolution and that’s why I do what I do.    I’m grateful that today Iran has fortified its position as an independent country and will do anything I can to maintain this stability for my daughter. I hope that she will always have the strength and courage to be true to herself and her own values.   There have been accusations from Iran's political sphere that enemies of the Islamic republic, notably USA and Israel, have initiated these protests. Why hasn't any concrete proof of this been presented?   I refer you to the study done by the Stanford Internet Observatory detailing the disinformation and psychological warfare practices of CENTCOM. There is an ongoing audit on all Pentagon psyops efforts partly because of that report. Unsurprisingly, a significant portion of the unit’s efforts were found to be directed at Iran.   A key strategy was the creation of multiple sham media outlets publishing content in Farsi.For example, Fahim News claimed to provide “accurate news and information” on events in Iran, prominently publishing posts declaring “the regime uses all of its efforts to censor and filter the internet,” and encouraging readers to stick to online sources as a result.   If you read the report, you find that CENTCOM’s psychological warfare (psywar) narratives have direct relevance to the protests that have engulfed Iran. There was a particular focus among one group of bots and trolls on women’s rights. Dozens of posts compared Iranian women’s opportunities abroad with those in Iran – one meme on this theme contrasted photos of an astronaut with a victim of violent spousal abuse – while others promoted protests against the hijab.Alleged government corruption and rising living costs were also recurrently emphasized.   Women’s rights, corruption, and the high cost of living – the latter of which directly results from suffocating US sanctions – are all key stated motivating factors for the protesters.   However, despite abundant and clear evidence of foreign direction and sponsorship, Western journalists and pundits have dismissed as conspiracy theories any suggestion that the recent unrests in Iran are anything other than organic and grassroots in nature.   Considering the number of protesters out on the streets, on strike and so on, is it plausible that they are all working for foreign interests?   Your question implies a straw man fallacy. You’re caricaturizing the role of foreign direction and sponsorship in these protests. No one is claiming that every man on the street was on the CIA payroll. Methods of covert warfare covering multiple fronts and mechanism of psychological operations are more complicated and nuanced than that. There is an extensive literature on this. I would advise you to start by reading the study from Stanford I mentioned above. The literature on foreign interference in the Capitol riots and the US election can also be helpful if you want to learn more.   Why aren't international journalists issued visas to Iran?   There is no policy to this effect in place. You can find an application form for this online.   Shouldn't it be in the interest of Iran that the international media can report accurately on what is going on?   It definitely is.   What is your view, so far, on the response of the Swedish government?   We expect the Swedish government not to pass judgments before they have access to all the facts. Commenting on the investigation before expert biopsy reports were out wasn’t constructive. Furthermore, I expect the Swedish government, as I do with all foreign governments, not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs and allow organic national dialogue to shape Iran’s future. I expect them to understand that the West can no longer impose themselves on others through force; and that Western Ideals and identity represents a minority of the people in the world and cannot be considered a universal good that can justify violations on others’ self-autonomy.   Do you share the belief, as reported internationally, that these protests are seriously undermining the Irani government?   I share the belief in so far as the intension behind imperialistic sponsorship and direction for the protests was to undermine the government. But I also see a sense of desperation in tactics employed to pursue these agendas.   This is a desperation congruent with the general strategic direction of global and regional trends that have not been in favor of hegemons.The policy of maximum pressure has failed, Iran continues to advance its economic relationships, (e.g. joining the Shanghai cooperation, being recommended for membership in BRICS, expanding regional ties), and the general direction of global trends are increasingly having a deteriorating effect on Western hegemony and Iran’s influence in the region and beyond continues to be strong. As a last refuge they have resorted to these underhanded tactics.   The fact that Western aggression against Iran has gone from blatant attempts at military occupation to covert operations seeking to sow social dissent, is itself a positive sign for Iranian national strength.    Could harder sanctions, as has been suggested by some EU-ministers, affect future talks of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal?   Of course, it would. It would very clearly communicate a lack of commitment and seriousness about the negotiations.    What outcome do you hope for Iran in the short- and long-term future?   Inhumane economic sanctions and every form of aggression have been used through a multifaceted war against Iran. This has created challenges for Iran in the short-term. However, Iran’s economy has shown that it has the resilience to prove sanctions as tools of foreign policy are untenable and ineffective. Economic indicators are steadily rising to their prior status and economic capabilities of domestic production and regional trade have been further fortified and expanded.   Iran’s foreign policy doctrine of resistance against imperialism and foreign aggression in our region has proved to resonate strongly among people in our region and beyond and we continue to pursue stronger ties and relations with countries that do not require Iran to surrender its national sovereignty in order to maintain relations with them, which is an ever-expanding pool of nations.   In the long-term, I believe Iran has made a very strategically sound decision not to rely on Western hegemons for its stability and political credibility, earlier than others have, which will give it strategic competitive advantage in the transitional period in global power dynamics we are contemporarily experiencing.