TEHRAN, Iran — Following Nelson Mandela's death, a large number of Iranians expressed their sadness by posting condolences on social media, and Iranian officials from various political affiliations either expressed condolences or visited the South African Embassy in Tehran to pay their respects. It was also announced that Iran would name a street after Mandela. However, despite appearances, the Iranian people and officials were sharply divided over what Mandela represented and how he related to Iran’s divided political landscape.
Nothing symbolized this divide more so than that despite expressing his desire to travel to South Africa to attend Mandela’s ceremony and represent Iran, former President Mohammad Khatami appears to have failed to have his travel ban lifted for this event, a political decision that many Iranians on social media who are hoping to have better relations with the world called a “missed opportunity.”
After the Kayhan newspaper had deemed President Hassan Rouhani’s attendance at the funeral “a trap” that could lead to a possible handshake with US President Barack Obama, Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Shariatmadari, was sent instead. Shariatmadari traveled to South Africa to offer Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's and the president's message of condolence but was not at the official ceremony where Obama and other world leaders spoke.
Mandela was no stranger to Iran. He was the first president of South Africa to visit Iran after the fall of apartheid. The first time he visited Iran was during Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s presidency. He received an honorary doctorate from the Law School of Tehran University, one of the most important law departments in Iran. He visited again under Khatami’s presidency. In 1994, he was publicly praised by conservative politician and speaker of parliament Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, who called him the leader of South Africa’s “revolution and resistance movement,” and emphasized that “the hostile relations between Iran and South Africa caused by the apartheid” had come to an end.
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