Nature & Animals Quote by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Calling America “a big country” with “the brain of a little bird” is a diplomat’s insult dressed up as a backhanded compliment. Rafsanjani, a veteran of Iran’s revolutionary statecraft, isn’t arguing that the U.S. lacks power; he’s arguing that power without strategic patience is childish, skittish, and easily spooked. The image does the work: a birdbrain isn’t evil, it’s impulsive - reactive rather than reflective. That choice matters because it frames U.S. behavior not as principled but as panicky, addicted to short-term fixes and moral theatrics.

The line also smuggles in a demand for “greatness” on Rafsanjani’s terms: a superpower should behave like an empire that can calculate, tolerate ambiguity, and negotiate with adversaries instead of flattening them. Coming from a politician who helped steer Iran through war, sanctions, and factional battles, it’s less a random swipe than a strategic narrative. Iran’s leadership repeatedly cast Washington as simultaneously overmighty and unserious: capable of immense damage, yet incapable of understanding the region’s history, pride, and internal politics.

There’s domestic subtext, too. By portraying the U.S. as mentally small, Rafsanjani reassures Iranian audiences that resistance is rational, not suicidal; the opponent is huge but sloppy. And it’s a message to third parties - Europe, nonaligned states, even U.S. critics - inviting them to see American policy as a kind of nervous flailing that doesn’t “befit” the global role it claims. The sting is in the paternal tone: America isn’t just wrong; it’s embarrassing itself.