The announcement of President Ebrahim Raisi's death is not significant. It doesn't matter to Khamenei or the clerical regime either. From the perspective of the Iranian people, his presence or absence makes no difference. However, the government's failure to locate him for several hours—if not due to serious deliberate sabotage—indicates the incompetence of the Iranian regime.
Before delving into the elation and satisfaction of the majority of Iranians, it is crucial to address the current state of Iran. The military and security forces are primarily focused on controlling the situation to prevent it from spiraling out of control. Khamenei, too, has called for prayers and contemplation, which suggests that this is no ordinary incident but rather an extraordinary and alarming development.
Iran is on the verge of boiling over, with societal anger reaching levels beyond comprehension, and stands at the threshold of another wave of nationwide protests. However, the question remains: would the death of Raisi intensify this wave?
The depth of the tragedy lies in the fact that Iranians can envision no future other than disaster for their depleted and exhausted nation. An autocratic regime rules over Iran, transforming its rebellious and pain-stricken populace into a graveyard, plundered and ravaged. The regime's pretense of power abroad is taken lightly by no one. A decrepit regime, fundamentally misplaced in the 21st century, operates more as a kleptocracy than a government—a lawless band of irrational and predatory figures in power. This despotic and plunderous governance is merely a ruthless force wielding an iron fist, intimidating and flexing its muscles through fear and terror.
The enduring truth in the world of politics is that a government of murderous, brute, ignorant, and fanatical death merchants, an Islamic regime with a regressive and repressive nature, achieves nothing. Before the astonished eyes of the world, a complex of deceit, regression, fraud, malice, ugliness, crime, and stupidity governs the battered and afflicted Iran. In essence, a vast conglomerate of crime and folly—a government inept and incompetent, repressive, corrupt, and zealously religious—rules over Iran.
These days, a demonic presence occupies the seat of power in a pained and rebellious Iran, enduring endless miseries and chaos; the law of the jungle prevails today, and for Iran, it is catastrophic. The tragedy of today's Iran cannot be overlooked. The country has been shattered.
The regime, out of breath, defeated, and bankrupt, still gruesomely sacrifices its youth; wielding the scythe of death, it sanctifies murder. This nightmare of the Iranian nation, this death-creating factory, continues the age-old tradition of the clerical school—engaging in detestable slaughter and reveling in its lethal decline. The concerted efforts of a government of fear, irrationality, and violence are to preserve, at any cost, an ugly, barbaric, and dark regime.
Of course, a segment of the population, indoctrinated and traditional, still remains under the sway of these religious profiteers. Even the "gray zone"—thousands of Iranians who have disconnected from the living world—has realized that the government is aggressive, merciless, engaging in imprisonment, torture, and abductions, a death squad sending thousands to slaughterhouses and black sites. A storm of revelations, accusations, and denunciations pervades Iranian social networks.
For 45 years, the house of Iran has been burning. If no remedy is found to extinguish the fire, nothing of Iran will remain. The courageous and realistic young generation no longer accepts that this divine governance is sacrosanct and that rebellion against it is akin to rebelling against God. They have realized that Khomeini's proclamations on February 5, 1979, were nonsensical. What the young Iranians miss is not the mullah's superstitions—the illogical and unacceptable religious tales—but their identity, pride, and the name of Iran.
Iran, regressed, bloodied, and in mourning—disheartened, weary, bewildered, hungry today, a nation afflicted and completely lost—must pass through this tunnel of horror and the consequences of the clerical regime's collapse. Fortunately, millions of bewildered Iranians, storm-born and shipwrecked, have grasped the meaning of Hafez's poem: "A dark night, fearful of the wave, and such a dangerous whirlpool." The nation is no longer idle and does not want to be the shield for the calamity of the Islamic caliphate and the clerical executors of disaster wielding clubs. The club-wielders of Hezbollah and Tharallah, with a lexicon of anger and usurpation and a law of sword-drawing and murder, which have always viciously attacked the Iranian nation, are seeking their own fate.
The notorious and dishonorable government of the mullahs—with a blatant sneer at the entire civilized world—reminds us of the Arab Age of Ignorance, but the mullahs or useless scavengers are nearing the end of their dream.
No longer can a mullah mobilize millions under the guise of followers, aping through lies, deceit, and trickery, because the people have recognized the vile nature of the wild mullahs. Mullahs have been the enforcers for 520 years.
This aggressive, vengeful, and spiteful group—devoted to destruction and execution—wanted to lull Iranians into a cradle of ignorance and superstition, but Iranian society, driven by patriotic ideals, has instead followed the epic Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, not the religious explanations of Khomeini.
Indeed, throughout Khomeini's writings, there is no mention of Iran, its culture, or its history. The ruling apparatus is alien to Iran's history, civilization, and culture and has established a government of God on Earth, not for Iran and Iranians but for their own void ideology—exporting Islamic terrorism and Khomeinism worldwide—plundering Iran's wealth, resources, and benefits. The social fabric of Iran is intertwined with the civil values of the Iranian people.
The trapped and bewildered people of Iran, enclosed within the walls of an Islamic prison, are earnestly and patriotically making efforts to break these ancient chains. Fortunately, the opposition movement against the current government in Iran is widespread, striving with all their might for the liberation of the country. Although historically, people do not spontaneously rise up, and uncalculated, unplanned, and uncoordinated uprisings are easily suppressed, fortunately, the Iranian people in these years have been forged in the crucible of adversity and have matured politically. They know that in this chaos, they cannot wait for a miraculous hand to emerge and act.
In the tumultuous history of the country, the Iranian nation has seen many floods and storms. And the nation, always a creator of epics, has consistently preserved this ancient history, which is a proud reality of our past. Iran, throughout the centuries and across the expanse of history, has resonated its name. According to a clear and unequivocal historical fact, Iran is part of the ancient history of humanity because light triumphs over darkness, and the undeniable reality of our history is that in the long term, ancient Iran and its ancient culture have always been victorious.
Erfan Fard is a counter-terrorism analyst and Middle East Studies researcher based in Washington, DC. an expert in Middle Eastern regional security affairs with a particular focus on Iran, Counter terrorism, IRGC, MOIS and Ethnic conflicts in MENA. He graduated in International Security Studies (London M. University, UK), and in International Relations (CSU-LA). He is fluent in Persian, Kurdish, Arabic and English. Follow him in this twitter account @EQFARD