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Iron Voices: How Tehran’s Theocracy Silences Dissent with Propaganda and Repression

People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic’s “morality police,” in Tehran, Iran, September 21, 2022. Photo: WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS.

Iran is in a perilous downward spiral. Gross mismanagement has led the country into deadlock, and the government’s destructive and absolute acceleration into radicalism threatens Iran’s very existence.

Despite the severity of the situation, neither Iranian society nor the world fully grasps the disaster’s depth. Since the revolution of 1979, the regime has acted as both exploiter and occupier. The oppressive political system continually repeats its mistakes without any intention of correction.

The dreams of the Iranian nation and its governance are misaligned. The Tehran government, with its unchecked power and immense wealth, fails to recognize the identity of the Iranian nation, which deeply resents this governance. This tension will continue until the regime falls.

Iran is governed by an outlaw regime that rejects rational dialogue, opting instead for repression through violence. Acting like an unyielding horseman, the government lashes out with clubs and whips, or shoots bullets at citizens.

For 45 years, the military governance has operated like a mafia, continuing its repression while the regime’s propaganda machinery works overtime. All propaganda tools serve to bolster the regime’s authority. All platforms are under the regime’s control, which still seeks to consolidate its power.

Iran’s governance is backward, incapable, and fraught with countless deficiencies relative to the potential of its people. The government holds no esteem among Iranians, and is isolated internationally. The regime knows that it has no national standing, especially among the younger generation.

The barrier between the governance and the nation is not just the outdated, bankrupt, and Khomeinist ideology. A governance that tramples on the nation’s interests denies the interests of everyone but itself. There is no unity in society; everything is damaged and cracked. The regime, alienated and unpopular among Iranians, has no legitimacy. The government’s discourse has also failed.

With irrelevant language and logic, the regime demands societal submission, viewing itself as the guardian of all, even grandiosely claiming to lead the Muslims of the world. How can one reason with a ruler who only understands the language of force? Society cannot breathe freely.

The government recognizes voting, civil rights, and freedom of speech only for its supporters and inner circle. The governance cannot tolerate dissenting voices or differing opinions. It is closed, dark, unwise, and irrational.

Intellectualism in Iran faces terror, imprisonment, and deprivation. The regime neither desires nor understands anything beyond itself. A populist, repressive governance conflicts with a protesting, suppressed society. There is no understanding or dialogue — only interrogations, revolutionary courts, and threats from security institutions. No one in Iranian society is safe from arrest and suppression.

The current regime in Iran is a symbol of absolute evil. Peaceful coexistence with this savage governance is impossible. The regime does not recognize the people of Iran as a nation, but sees them as the Islamic Ummah. Iran, to the regime, is like war spoils. The regime’s narrow-minded politics and literature are contrary to Iranian society and nation. It is a failed system that contradicts freedom and law. It continuously suppresses but lacks authority.

The poor, suppressed, and deprived society of Iran feels deep dissatisfaction and public hatred towards the regime. After 1979, people lost their national pride and identity to the mullahs, leading to deadlock, downfall, and decay.

A governance that relies on whips and bullets is a savage oppressor ready to commit any crime to preserve its irrational, reality-averse rule. The mullahs’ claims of religiosity and heavenly status are displays of superstition and delusion for political and religious fraud. Iranian society has moved beyond religion, but the regime calls the terrorist uproar of 1979 a revolution — a display of Khomeini’s savagery.

A few harsh and oppressive individuals are ready to sacrifice all of Iran for their invalid beliefs. The current religious despotism expects the entire society to respect Khomeini’s terrorist uproar, and to exhibit absolute obedience. The Guardianship structure embodies despotism, delusion, ignorance, and superstition.

Institutionalizing democracy in Iran is a long, rocky road. A dangerous outlook awaits the Iranian nation. The regime is in decline, and soon, similar to economic and cultural collapse, social and ethical collapse may occur, uncontrollably.

The mullah system has historically been full of power-seeking, deception, lies, propaganda, corruption, terror, and suppression. Change with the current regime in power is impossible. The Tehran regime uses internal suppression and external aggression. Terrorist institutions like the Ministry of Intelligence, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the police force, the Quds Force, and other proxy groups will continue their work as long as the regime is in power. The death of any regime figure will not change the system.

Predicting Iran’s future is challenging, especially with upcoming elections. There will be no enthusiasm or competition. The Guardian Council, under Khamenei’s supervision, will limit candidate approvals to a few radical loyalists. The government aims to continue harsh conditions and seeks someone like deceased president Raisi. Dangerous times for Iran — and the world — are ahead.

Erfan Fard is a counterterrorism analyst and Middle East Studies researcher based in Washington, DC. Twitter@EQFARD.

The post Iron Voices: How Tehran’s Theocracy Silences Dissent with Propaganda and Repression first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria

Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.

The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.

The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.

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Armed Groups Attack Security Force Personnel in Syria’s Sweida, Killing One, State TV Reports

People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.

The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.

Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.

The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.

A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.

The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.

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Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.

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