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Internal Boycott of Iranian Elections Shows a Regime That Doesn’t Serve Its People
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 2, 2022. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a landscape once rich with cultural and political heritage now suffers under the yoke of an authoritarian regime that has hijacked the once-sacred act of voting.
The disenfranchised Iranian populace finds itself ensnared in a system where elections serve as nothing more than a spectacle of faux democracy, orchestrated to sustain the illusion of legitimacy for a government that has systematically eroded civil liberties and human rights.
The recent boycotts of Iranian presidential elections is not merely a passive act of defiance, but a pronounced indictment of a regime that has failed its people spectacularly. This boycott transcends mere political disillusionment; it is a profound statement against the regime’s propaganda machine that paints participation as a civic duty, while in truth, it is a coerced endorsement of a predetermined outcome.
Within this context, the roles of presidential candidates become clear. Figures such as candidates Jalili and Pezeshkian, perceived by the public not as pioneers of change but as stalwarts of the status quo, are emblematic of a broader political malaise. They are seen not as legitimate contenders for leadership, but as cogs in a machine engineered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. His regime, epitomized by a relentless grip on power, manipulates every facet of governance — from the judiciary to the military — to ensure that no true opposition can emerge.
Khamenei himself stands as a paragon of dictatorial excess, embodying the antithesis of the democratic values he purports to uphold. His plans to establish a dynastic succession through his son, Mojtaba, reveal a blatant disregard for democratic processes and a preference for monarchical rule disguised as religious governance. This maneuver is not just a perpetuation of personal power; it is an affront to the collective will of the Iranian people, signaling that even the semblance of choice is a privilege granted by the ruling elite, not a fundamental right.
The boycott, therefore, is a critical expression of political maturity and historical consciousness by a society that, despite being shackled by fear and repression, recognizes the futility of participating in a predetermined play. Over the decades, Iranians have cultivated a sophisticated understanding of their political landscape, informed by repeated cycles of promised reforms followed by inevitable retrenchment. This has led to a collective awakening, where the electorate refuses to validate a corrupt system through participation in its rigged elections.
The implications of this silent boycott extend beyond the immediate context of electoral politics to touch upon the very legitimacy of the regime. The vilayat-e faqih system, which centralizes religious and political authority in the hands of the Supreme Leader, is fundamentally incompatible with the principles of democratic governance. It perpetuates a model of leadership that is inherently despotic, reminiscent of historical caliphates where rulers wielded absolute power, unaccountable to their subjects.
This model of governance has not only stifled political dissent but has also led to economic stagnation and social decay. Iran’s economy, heavily sanctioned by the international community and mismanaged by corrupt elites, teeters on the brink of collapse. The regime’s failure to effectively address these issues, combined with its oppressive tactics to suppress any form of dissent, has only deepened the resolve of the Iranian people to seek change.
The reformist factions within Iran, including groups like the Islamic Left and participants of the 1979 revolution, once heralded as agents of change, now find themselves in a precarious position. Their calls for reform, constrained within the parameters set by the regime, have failed to bring about any substantive change. Instead, they serve to perpetuate a facade of progress, even as the fundamental structure of the regime remains unchallenged.
As the regime continues to clamp down on dissent and tighten its authoritarian grip, the response from the populace has been one of increasing resistance. The silent boycott is an active strategy of non-compliance that challenges the regime’s authority and exposes its vulnerabilities. This growing undercurrent of civil resistance is a testament to the resilience of the Iranian people, who, despite enduring decades of repression, are increasingly determined to imagine and fight for a future that aligns with their aspirations for freedom and justice.
In conclusion, the silent boycott of elections in Iran represents more than a momentary expression of discontent. It is a profound challenge to a regime that relies on suppression and deception to maintain control. For the international community and observers of Iranian politics, this act of boycott is a crucial indicator of a shifting political consciousness among Iranians. As this political drama unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that the path to genuine reform in Iran must be paved with the active participation of its citizens, demanding and implementing a system of governance that truly represents their will and respects their rights.
Erfan Fard is a counterterrorism analyst and Middle East Studies researcher based in Washington, DC. Twitter@EQFARD.
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Florida State University Shooting Suspect Expressed Interest in Hitler, Nazis, New Research Shows
According to the ADL, this image appears on an account belonging to Phoenix Ikner, the alleged perpetrator of a shooting attack on Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee. Photo: Screenshot
Phoenix Ikner, the alleged perpetrator of Thursday’s shooting attack on Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee which left two dead and six injured, expressed an interest in the Third Reich through his choice of names in his internet accounts, according to research from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an antisemitism watchdog group.
Describing Ikner as “an avid gamer and YouTuber,” the ADL said that its investigators found that “on various gaming accounts, the shooter used white supremacist imagery, including the Patriot Front logo and images of Hitler.”
An image provided by the ADL showed a simple cartoon of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s head with a word bubble saying “Nein!” — the German word for “no.”
1/ The ADL Center on Extremism has discovered that the alleged shooter at FSU yesterday was an avid gamer and YouTuber. During his various livestreams, he shared his screen revealing his various accounts, screen names, avatars, email inboxes and search history. Read on…
pic.twitter.com/7WPK6k85Yb
— ADL (@ADL) April 18, 2025
Through analyzing Ikner’s livestream broadcasts, the ADL reported that his email inbox “included emails from the Steam gaming platform support team, which referred to him as ‘Schutzstaffel,’ ‘phoenxcool,’ and ‘itsyourboyphoenix.’ Schutzstaffel, or SS, was the Nazi paramilitary group responsible for the Final Solution during the Holocaust.”
Ikner sustained injuries during the attack which may result in significant time in the hospital.
“What we’re seeing — if in fact this individual has extremist views, and it seems at the very least he was exposed to extremism — is the continued crossover between extremism and the glorification of violence that eventually leads to violence,” said Carla Hill, a senior director of investigative research at the ADL’s Center on Extremism
FSU student Lucas Luzietti shared a 2023 class with Ikner where the two argued over the alleged shooter’s far-right ideology, racism, and conspiracism. According to USA Today, Ikner made racist statements about Black people ruining his neighborhood and believed that former US President Joe Biden won the 2020 election illegally. He also made clear to his classmates that he owned guns.
Another student who engaged in ideological exchanges with Ikner revealed that members of a political discussion group found the alleged shooter’s views so extreme they asked him to leave.
Reid Seybold, a former Tallahassee State College student, told NBC News that “basically our only rule was no Nazis — colloquially speaking — and he espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric, and far-right rhetoric as well, to the point where we had to exercise that rule.”
The ADL reported that the Patriot Front group referenced in Ikner’s online activity “distributed antisemitic propaganda on at least 431 occasions in 2023, making up 38 percent of the year’s antisemitic propaganda incidents. ”In most of these incidents, the propaganda included the phrase ‘No Zionists in government, we serve one Nation,’” the ADL explained. “Given the group’s neo-Nazi roots, there is no question that when Patriot Front mentions ‘Zionists’ in their propaganda, they mean Jews.”
Fascinations with Nazism or even an outright embrace of the ideology have shown up in previous school attacks over the last 30 years.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold — the shooters behind the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999 — selected Hitler’s birthday for the attack that left 13 dead and launched the modern school shooting phenomenon. Harris, the mass slaughter’s mastermind, wrote in his journal, “I love the Nazis … I f—king can’t get enough of the swastika, the SS, and the iron cross. Hitler and his head boys f—ked up a few times and it cost them the war, but I love their beliefs and who they were, what they did, and what they wanted.”
On March 21, 2005, 16-year-old Jeff Weise murdered nine people at Red Lake High School, in Red Lake, Minnesota before committing suicide. Weise posted on a Neo-Nazi website with the handle “NativeNazi.”
William Edward Atchison, a contributor to message boards on the Daily Stormer neo-Nazi site, attacked Aztec High School, in Aztec, New Mexico on Dec. 7, 2017, killing two before taking his own life.
Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 and injured 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, 2018. He had carved a swastika onto his gun’s magazine and also made online postings expressing racism, antisemitism, and anti-immigrant bigotry.
Recent months have seen two school shooters — Natallie Rupnow and Solomon Henderson — with confirmed neo-Nazi beliefs who attacked their classmates before committing suicide.
Rupnow killed two and injured six on Dec. 16, 2024, at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. Henderson’s attack at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee on Jan. 22 left one dead and one injured.
Both teenagers left “manifestos” explaining their actions. In Henderson’s he wrote, “Candace Owens has influenced me above all each time she spoke I was stunned by her insights and her own views helped push me further and further into the belief of violence over the Jewish question.”
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Three Arrested at Protest in Scotland Against Israeli Athlete Competing in Bowls Tournament
Palestinian supporters protesting outside a Scotland vs. Israel match at the a UEFA Women’s European Qualifiers at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland on May 31, 2024. Photo: Alex Todd/Sportpix/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Three protesters were arrested and charged after participating in an anti-Israel demonstration in Scotland on Sunday that targeted an Israeli bowl player competing in the World Bowls Indoor Championship taking place in the Scottish city of Aberdeen.
The protest was co-organized by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) and was largely held outside the Aberdeen Indoor Bowling Club, where Israeli athlete Boaz Markus was competing, according to the Scottish newspaper The National. The international tournament runs from April 20-25. A flyer for Sunday’s protest described Markus as “a representative of the illegal, apartheid Israeli state currently carrying out genocide.”
Protesters outside the arena chanted against Israel while holding Palestinian flags and placards calling for an end to Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip ahead of Markus’s match at 1 pm. Video shared on social media by the pro-Palestinian group Show Israeli Genocide the Red Card, which co-organized the protest, also showed two demonstrators inside the venue chanting “Free, free Palestine,” shouting that Markus was “not welcome in Scotland,” and making further accusations about Israel committing “war crimes” and “murdering babies.” The protesters were eventually escorted out of the venue by police. The mayhem caused Markus’ match to be delayed by two hours.
On Sunday, police said two people had been arrested and that “enquiries are ongoing,” but then released an update on Monday explaining that another person had been arrested and charged in relation to the protest, The National reported.
“On Sunday, April 20, 2025, officers attended a pre-planned demonstration on Summerhill Road in Aberdeen,” said a police spokesperson. “Two women aged 57 and 63, and a 56-year-old man were arrested and charged. A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal [public prosecutor].”
Maggie Chapman, Green Member of the Scottish Parliament, also participated in the anti-Israel rally on Sunday.
“Sport is meant to be for everyone, but Israel is a racist apartheid state, built on denying even the most basic human rights to people under occupation,” she said. “I was proud to join today’s protest against Israel’s systematic repression of Palestinians and the normalization of war crimes. Sporting and cultural boycotts were an important act of solidarity against the apartheid regime in South Africa and are an important act way of standing with the people of Gaza.”
Chapman criticized the police response to the demonstration, calling it “totally disproportionate.”
“Protest is not a crime, but genocide is, and we all have a responsibility to stand against it,” she stated.
Earlier this month, SPSC tried to pressure World Bowls, which is the international federation for the sport of bowls, to disinvite Markus from the World Bowls Indoor Championship. The anti-Israel group accused World Bowls and the Aberdeen Indoor Bowling Club of “sportswashing Israeli genocide.” Show Israeli Genocide the Red Card sponsored an open letter that called on the Scottish government to intervene if World Bowls failed to rescind Markus’ invitation to the tournament.
World Bowls CEO Neil Dalrymple responded, saying at the time that the federation will not rescind Markus’ invitation. He also asked protesters not to disrupt the competition. “World Bowls is very pleased to be staging the World Bowls Indoor Championship in Aberdeen,” he told the Scottish Sun.
“World Bowls has 60 member countries from across the world including Israel and all of our members continue to be welcome and eligible to participate in all World Bowls staged events,” he added. “Our view is that sport and politics should not be intertwined. We will be allowing the representative of Israel to play in this World Bowls event, and we hope that all players and officials will enjoy their visit to Aberdeen. We respect the right for people to protest whilst we hope that they will respect the right for World Bowls to stage this competition without disruption inside the venue.”
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Molotov Cocktail Thrown at Ukrainian Synagogue in Antisemitic Attack Hours After Passover
In an antisemitic attack, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a synagogue in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Photo: Screenshot
A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a synagogue in Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine, on Saturday night, as the local Jewish community continues to experience an increasing wave of antisemitic incidents.
Just hours after the Jewish holiday of Passover ended, Chabad emissary and city Rabbi Liron Edri was alerted by the synagogue’s security system — funded by Chabad World Assistance (CWA) and supported by the Jewish Agency’s Security Fund — that several Molotov cocktails had been thrown at the building.
Edri explained that the security system — which includes shatter-resistant windows, surveillance cameras, and a rapid-response alarm network — prevented a major disaster by stopping the Molotov cocktails from breaching the building and causing serious damage.
“Thanks to the window reinforcement installed in recent months, a large fire was prevented,” the city’s rabbi said.
He also warned that the attack followed a disturbing pattern, similar to a recent antisemitic incident in Mykolaiv, a city near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine, where Molotov cocktails were also thrown at a local synagogue.
“We fear this is a planned trend against Jewish communities,” Edri said. “There seems to be a growing pattern of coordinated attempts to intimidate and harm Jewish communities in Eastern Europe.”
As local authorities initiated an investigation into the attack, Edri praised their swift and effective response.
“We will not let fear stop us,” the rabbi said. “Light will dispel darkness, and I thank the police and government who immediately came to the synagogue and promised to conduct an investigation and arrest the perpetrators.”
Ukraine has experienced an increasing wave of antisemitic incidents, as Russia’s ongoing war has fueled political instability, amplified nationalist rhetoric, and sparked a rise in antisemitic discourse across certain regions.
Last week, a vehicle displaying Jewish symbols was vandalized, with its tires slashed, community emblems defaced, and paint splattered across the car’s body.
Edri condemned the antisemitic act, describing it as part of a growing wave of targeted assaults against the local Jewish community intended to harm and intimidate them.
“The vandalism was clearly targeted,” he said. “There was nothing random about it. This was an act aimed at harming us as a Jewish community.”
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