Iran's Image Reshaped by Recent Wars: Baghaei

Speaking at the launch of a book titled "The 12-Day Battle and the Question of Iran's National Brand," Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said that the difficult conditions of recent years have provided individuals and groups with an opportunity to define their relationship to the country's core issues.

Baghaei noted that decades of negative propaganda about Iran had been produced and repeated, gradually becoming accepted as reality in global public opinion. This process, he said, went beyond damaging Iran's image and became a basis for calculation and decision-making about the country. Iran was presented as a danger, and even the nuclear issue was framed internationally to reinforce the claim that there was no option but confrontation. He described this as a process of "demonisation and dehumanisation," in which a nation is first maligned through stereotypes, then accused of human rights violations, support for terrorism, or dictatorship, until action against it is made to appear legitimate.

According to Baghaei, the events of the past year and a half have not only exposed many common stereotypes about Iran but also forced a revision of some fixed assumptions. One such assumption was that Iran's governance structure was dependent on individuals and would collapse with the removal of senior officials. "Iran's rapid reaction and the continuity of its institutions showed that Iran is a country of institutions, not persons," he said. In contrast, he added, the United States, long presented as an institution-based state, had been shown in some cases to be heavily influenced by particular individuals and groups.

Baghaei further stated that the wartime behaviour of the Iranian people demonstrated Iran's capacities not only in the military field but also in diplomacy, negotiation, and intellectual arenas. He said the emergence of a "civilisational nation" was visible in the people's conduct, combining Iran's epic and national heritage with religious concepts such as the Ashura uprising and "Hayhat minna al-dhilla." This combination, he said, helped the country emerge as an integrated society at one of its most sensitive moments.

He concluded that the narrative confrontation is continuing, and that the country needs to properly understand, narrate, and draw on the assets built during this period. "If the assets formed in this period are properly recognised, articulated and explained to the new generation, the Iran of the future can be stronger than the Iran of today," he said. According to Mehr News Agency, Baghaei made these remarks at the book launch event.