- EURASIAREVIEW.COM - A la une - 13/09/2024 15:50

The Real Polarization That Iran’s Regime Fears – OpEd

These days, Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warns the factions within the government, locked in conflict, toavoid polarization. At the same time, there is ongoing discussion about social, labor, and political prisoner protests becoming a seamless movement against the regime, with these protests growing daily and weekly. Reflecting on these events, a natural question arises: which forces are involved in real polarization? And which polarization does he truly fear? The news of developments—both within the regime and in the series of social, labor, and political protests—suggests that the real measure of polarization is the growing divide and deepening crisis between society and the regime. This is the main event and challenge facing Khamenei, one that neither his favorite and now-deceased president, Ebrahim Raisi, could reduce, nor the rhetorical displays of his new president Masoud Pezeshkian can overcome now. Every week, we witness the increasing connection between various social groups’ protests and ongoing demonstrations. The slogans have taken on a political tone, directly targeting the regime’s overall corruption and looting. The protesting groups point to the regime’s weakest and incurable spot in economic and labor matters: the theft and plundering of the people’s wealth and livelihoods to fund the preservation of the regime, the repression of the people, and foreign warmongering and terrorism. Meanwhile, every day and every week, the divisions within the regime deepen and connect with earlier and ongoing fractures. This process has accelerated since Pezeshkian took on his role as facilitator, and even regime insiders no longer heed Khamenei’s previous warnings in this regard. The factions surrounding Khamenei have become rivals in the pursuit of power and wealth, turning the regime into a boiling cauldron of chaos. The political and social dynamics that always emerge between two main forces are evident from the news and developments. They indicate that the internal conflicts within the regime stem from the deep, irreconcilable rift and crisis between Iranian society and the clerical regime. The more protests by social groups, labor unions, political prisoners, and anti-regime activists grow, the greater the regime’s panic and infighting over the preservation of power and wealth becomes. The current reality of the political landscape in Iran is characterized by the conflict between most of the people and the regime. This can be explained as follows: Khamenei and the regime have clashed with the basic rights to life and human identity of Iranian citizens in their pursuit of religious, political, and economic totalitarianism. However, for over two decades, the aggressive dominance of the regime, driven by a combination of religious deception and political crime, has been shattered by the repeated uprisings. Now, the people’s just demands for the right to life, freedom, equality, and humanity is wreaking havoc on the criminal regime in its entirety. This is the sign of the real polarization: on one side, most of the Iranian people, political prisoners, rebellious youth, and the organized resistance movement; on the other side, the criminal and occupying clerical regime. The decisive battle in Iran is unfolding between these two poles.