Thread by @HeshmatAlavi

THREAD

1)
@MSNBC interviewed @JZarif, #Iran’s chief apologist, providing him a platform to spread his propaganda & lies.

Zarif:
“Bad advice to President Trump has led him to make the wrong decisions.”

"The end of the U.S. in the region has already begun.”

Let's dig in.

@MSNBC @JZarif 2)
Putting Zarif’s saber-rattling aside for a moment, Iran’s FM is pushing an old talking point of separating President Trump from his cabinet & advisors.

This is Tehran saying mercy.

Trump’s maximum pressure policy is working & Iran is signaling willingness to talk.

@MSNBC @JZarif 3)
"The end of the United States in the region has already begun.”

This line by Zarif is intended to balance his initial weak stance in order to both save face & have something to say in response to a chorus of orchestrated reactions from the regime’s hardliners.

@MSNBC @JZarif 4)
Zarif says Soleimani was on a peace mission when killed by a U.S. drone strike on Jan 3.

Zarif is lying.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah recently revealed that Soleimani met him on Jan 1 asking for 120 Hezbollah commanders.

A peace mission with 120 Hezbollah commanders?

@MSNBC @JZarif 5)
Nasrallah says this was Soleimani’s first ever request from him in 22 years of their acquaintance.

Soleimani needed the 120 Hezbollah commanders to quell escalating protests in Iraq against the Iran-backed government in Baghdad.

@MSNBC @JZarif 6)
Zarif on Iran’s ballistic missile strike following Soleimani’s death:
“The intention was not to kill anybody. The intention was to send a message.

This further shows Iran’s weak position & goes against all the regime’s chest-thumping after "avenging" Soleimani’s killing.

@MSNBC @JZarif 7)
Zarif:
“We informed the Iraqi Prime Minister 45 minutes before the operation… & I think he did notify the Americans.”

This further proves that the entire Iranian attack on military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq was a face-saving operation.

Nothing more.

@MSNBC @JZarif 8)
Reminder:
Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani after one American civilian contractor was killed on Dec 27 in a rocket attack targeting the K1 military base in northern Iraq.

Iran knows that more American blood could unleash the U.S. military & it would stand no chance.

@MSNBC @JZarif 9)
Zarif:
“We believe that President Trump had been misled into believing that an operation against Soleimani would first of all create happiness in Iraq & Iran, & we saw even Mike Pompeo tweeting to that effect, & then people proved how wrong he was.”

Again, Zarif is lying.

@MSNBC @JZarif 10)
Reminder:
Iraqis immediately began celebrating the news of Soleimani’s death.

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1212955403077767168?s=20

@MSNBC @JZarif 11)
Farsi notes from inside Iran thanking U.S. President Donald Trump for ordering the killing of Soleimani.
"We had a really joyous day after a very long time"
"Thank you, dear Trump"
"Long live Trump"
"Hats off to you, President Trump - From the people of Iran"

@MSNBC @JZarif 12)
Zarif:
“We don’t have proxies.”

Another lie.

Nasrallah:
“All of Hizbollah’s budget, expenses, wages, food, drinks, weapons, and rockets are all supplied by The Islamic Republic of Iran… As long as Iran has money, we have money.”

@MSNBC @JZarif 13)
And this how Iran’s regime spends money.

@MSNBC @JZarif 14)
Zarif claims the Iraqi people loved Soleimani.
This is another lie.

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1214150714261413889?s=20

@MSNBC @JZarif 15)
Zarif claims Iran does not control Iraqi militia groups.

Another lie.

It is common knowledge that Iran pursues part of its foreign policy through proxy groups across the region.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

@MSNBC @JZarif 16)
Zarif:
Soleimani’s “job” was to “containing people from engaging in actual military operations against anyone.”

Lie.
Soleimani led proxies that killed, wounded & displaced millions across the region.

They also killed over 600 U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
washingtonexaminer.com/news/qassem-so…

@MSNBC @JZarif 17)
Zarif:
“U.S. blames Soleimani for IEDs. They shouldn’t do that.”

Soleimani is to blame for Iran sending IEDs to Iraq.

The Washington Post:
“Soleimani’s legacy: The gruesome, advanced IEDs that haunted U.S. troops in Iraq”
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

@MSNBC @JZarif 18)
On the Ukraine airliner, Zarif says he was informed only hours before Iran finally announced they shot down the plane.
Lie.
Zarif is a member of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. The military knew they shot down the plane. The Council & its members had to know.

@MSNBC @JZarif 19)
Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) shot down Ukraine Int'l Airlines flight PS752. And there was no "human error" involved.
irancommentary.wordpress.com/2020/01/18/ira…

@MSNBC @JZarif 20)
Zarif:
“We want more than anybody else to know what’s in the black box, to know what actually happened.”

Lie.
Iran refuses to handover the black boxes to cloak the truth.
Iran immediately razed the crash site to cloak the truth.

@MSNBC @JZarif 21)
“Iran has stopped cooperating with Ukraine in its investigation of a downed Ukrainian jetliner last month following the release of an audio clip that suggested Tehran knew its missiles brought down the passenger plane.”
foxnews.com/world/iran-end…

@MSNBC @JZarif 22)
Zarif says the military concluded they shot down the Ukrainian airliner after 3 days of probing & then @khamenei_ir, Iran’s dictator, ordered them to tell the truth.

Lie.
The military knew from the beginning & Iran lied for 3 days until their lies no longer fooled anyone.

@MSNBC @JZarif @khamenei_ir 23)
Zarif say Iran's IRGC protects the people.

Another lie.

The IRGC stands for the "Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps."

It protects the mullahs' regime, not the Iranian people.

The IRGC killed over 1,500 people during the November 2019 protests.
reuters.com/article/us-ira…

@MSNBC @JZarif @khamenei_ir 24)
Zarif will forever be Iran's chief apologist, expecting praise for the regime's military saying they were "courageous" to announce they shot down the Ukrainian plane.

No. They had not other choice because there was no more room of lying after three days.

@MSNBC @JZarif @khamenei_ir 25)
Zarif says the missile firing was a human error & the operator thought the plane was a cruise missile.

Lie.

Reminder:
Cruise missile - 6.25m (20ft) long & 0.52m (21in) in diameter

Boeing 737-800 - Wing span 34.31m (112ft 7in), length 39.47m (129ft 6in), height 12.55m

@MSNBC @JZarif @khamenei_ir 26)
Zarif says the operator thought he thought the Ukraine airliner was a cruise missile attacking Tehran.

This is the same lie constantly repeated by the IRGC during the 3-days of lying.

And why didn't the operator notice the "cruise missile" was distancing away from Tehran?

@MSNBC @JZarif @khamenei_ir 27)
WOW!
-Zarif literally says the mullahs' regime is the victim in the Ukrainian plane crash.
-Asks why don't the U.S., Canada & France give the regime the necessary hardware/software to download the black boxes.
-Insists the regime has nothing to hide...

28)
To Zarif:
The mullahs' regime has lied for 41 years. That is why no one trusts you. If you actually receive the hardware/software to download the black boxes, you will not share the data with the world. Nor the data of any future (God forbid) plane crashes in Iran.

29)
Zarif says he is the foreign minister that dealt with John Kerry.
This is another signal that Zarif gives for the regime's desire for talks & wishes a return to the Obama years of full-throttle appeasement.

Reminder for Zarif & the mullahs:
That's not happening with Trump.

30)
As a final thought, Zarif seemed very lost & despite his attempts to show a strong face, he (representing #Iran's regime) is very concerned about the dark future ahead.
Trump shows no sign of backing down, knowing he has Tehran cornered. The mullahs are facing a tough road.