Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attended on May 24 a closed parliament session to speak about the latest rounds of the nuclear negotiations. After his speech, parliament member Mehdi Koochakzadeh approached Zarif at the podium and suggested that Zarif was a “traitor” for negotiating under US threats, something Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had explicitly warned against. Zarif and Koochakzadeh, surrounded by other parliament members, then engaged in a yelling match, which was recorded by cellphone cameras and shared widely on social media.

Afterward, Koochakzadeh, who has an already acrimonious relationship with the Iranian media, took to his favorite platform to explain his actions: Instagram. He asked, “How long can someone’s real face be hidden from the people? For how long can the administration’s lack of work (especially on the nuclear negotiations) be hidden with distractions and controversy? Has not the time come to lift the curtain on reality and recognize the Iranian people as more honest than Westerners?” He then accused Zarif of starting the yelling match.

Koochakzadeh, a member of the hard-line Endurance Front and supporter of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is no stranger to controversy. In an August 2014 interview, he said that the majority of Iranian journalists “write lies in return for money.” In 2013, Koochakzadeh called Iranian photographers “pornographers” for taking pictures of parliament members while they were napping during sessions. With these views, it’s no surprise that Koochakzadeh has taken to Instagram to issue statements and engage in debates. Though he has been on the platform for just over a month, his use of it to attack political rivals has caught the attention of Iran's media. 

Shargh Daily’s June 10 front page covered the latest Koochakzadeh battle on Instagram, sparked when Marietje Schaake, a member of the European Parliament, visited members of the Iranian parliament on June 7 in a form-fitting outfit with her hair only loosely covered. Her outfit stood in stark contrast to the Iranian female official in full black chador standing next to her.