A Commentary on a Photo: A Meeting Held Before the U.S. Attack on Afghanistan in the Presence of Ayatollah Khamenei

On September 24, 2001, a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council was held under the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei, attended by President Khatami, Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, then Secretary of the Council Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, then-Head of IRIB Ali Larijani, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and others. The agenda included discussions on the events of September 11 and the impending U.S. threat to attack Afghanistan, which commenced on October 7 of that year, as well as the implications of these developments for Iran. In his memoirs, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani referred to this meeting with the leadership, stating: "I was a guest of the leader at night. He mentioned that the Supreme National Security Council had been advised to avoid cooperation with America and not to take actions that would suggest weakness or compromise. They are dissatisfied with the lack of coordination and summary from them."

Iran cooperated with Washington during the U.S. attack on Afghanistan. In November 2009, part of the memoirs of Ryan Crocker, the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan, drew attention when he mentioned that a week after the September 11 attacks in 2001, during negotiations in Geneva with several Iranian diplomats, discussions about the attack on Afghanistan took place.

Crocker wrote: "What intrigued me most was their eagerness for the 'Great Satan' to send forces into Iran's backyard, namely Afghanistan. In early October, almost a month after the September 11 attacks, we were seated at one of the UN conference rooms discussing the structure of the parliament after the Taliban. One Iranian diplomat gradually became agitated and eventually stood up, nearly shouting that we should not talk about 'what should be.' As long as the current regime in Afghanistan is in power, none of these discussions are useful." He then left the room. The bombing of Afghanistan by the U.S. began a few days later.

Hussein Mousavian, head of the Foreign Relations Committee of Iran's Supreme National Security Council at the time of the U.S. attack on Afghanistan, also stated in an interview regarding Iran's cooperation with the U.S. in the attack on Afghanistan: "When the U.S. decided to go to war against the Taliban, the Northern Alliance was unanimously willing to cooperate with the U.S. to overthrow the Taliban. Iran did not oppose the wishes of the Northern Alliance."

A year and a half after the occupation of Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban, the U.S. attacked Iraq and overthrew Saddam. Some in Iran believed it was now their turn. A letter from the sixth Majlis representatives to the leadership was published during this time, causing quite a stir, known as the "Cup of Poison" letter. However, Iran was different from the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam's Iraq. Months before the September 11 incidents, a vibrant election was held in Iran, resulting in Khatami being elected president with over 21 million votes, unlike Iraq, where Saddam, shortly before the U.S. invasion in September 2001, secured 100% of the votes in a single-candidate election.

There is no doubt that if public sentiment in Iran had been similar to that in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush would not have hesitated to attack Tehran. If there is no popular legitimacy, overthrowing a government would not be costly for a foreign enemy.

Regarding the current events in Palestine and Gaza, I think similarly: If Hamas, regardless of our agreement or disagreement with it, did not have acceptance among the people of this strip, Israel would have been able to resolve the situation in the early days. A regime that defeated the Arabs in the Six-Day War is now killing for a year and making piles of corpses but has not been able to achieve its objectives. The victor of a war is not determined by the number of casualties; rather, the results that the war was initiated for, and whether they have been achieved or not, will clarify whether they have remained at the starting point or progressed!