Why Iran needs an ‘enemy’ to survive

Why Iran needs an ‘enemy’ to survive
Majid Rafizadeh writes an article published in Al Arabiya English to answer the question: Why does Iran have to constantly remind its population of the “enemies”?

Rafizadeh says that the long-standing Iranian leaders’ narrative that Iran faces enemies has been consistently manifesting itself in Friday prayers, speeches that Iran’s Khamenei delivers on a regular basis, as well as the general of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), mottos of the state’s semi-militia group Basij, and so on and that coining labels for the enemy such as the “Great Satan” has also been engraved in the political ideology of the system.

“Children are taught from an early age, through the educational system and books, about these dangerous ‘enemies’. The state’s media outlets persistently reiterate who the ‘enemies’ are, why they are the enemies and generally bashing them,” the writer goes on to say.

Rafizadeh then quotes Mina, an Iran-based political scientist, as saying that “almost 90 percent of Iran’s news is focused on warning the people about the regional and global enemies, bashing the US, Israel or other states in the region such as Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the news is about spreading Shiite theology, mourning the death of Shiite leaders, showing that the Shiite are the victims, and showing how Iran is the only good country in the region."

By looking at Iran’s policies since 1979, one can observe that Iran has methodically, systematically, and effectively used the concept of “enemy”, Rafizadeh asserts.

“Having powerful ‘enemies’ serves very well as a social, political, strategic and economic scapegoat for Iranian leaders. Without an ‘enemy’ how can the Iranian leader justify cracking down on opposition? Without the existential ‘enemy’, how can Khamenei and the IRGC explain the large military budget? Without the ‘enemies’, how can Iranian leaders distract attention from the accumulation of wealth at the top and the large amount of poverty in Iran?

“Without the ‘enemy’ how can General Qassem Soleimani and Khamenei explain the intervention in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain? Without these enemies, who will the Iranian leaders blame for the fact that over half of Iran’s population are surviving under poverty line? With no ‘enemy’, how can Iranian leaders maintain the core of their revolutionary principles and the Islamic character of the state?

“If there is no ‘enemy’, how will Iranian leaders take attention away from the day-to-day difficulties that Iranians face? Without the ‘enemies’, from which social base would Khamenei obtain his legitimacy. Without the ‘enemies, how can the IRGC brutally crack down on domestic oppositions and turn its military institution into a regional empire?”

Rafizadeh emphasizes that Iran’s military budget continues to increase, although Iran has not been attacked by any state or non-state actor in the last three decades.

The most important reason lies in the notion that Iranian leaders have methodically and systematically used the “enemies” as a scapegoat and a tool to more easily justify a crackdown on any opposition domestically, Rafizadeh says.

“Having an ‘enemy’ for Iranian clerics is a powerful tool to unify the population, create the ‘other’, divide and rule, and more easily control the population by identifying the ‘deviants’ from the supporters of the religious rule in the country.

“Having a powerful ‘enemy’ is a method to rule by invoking nationalistic sentiments through instigating hatred and fear.”

Rafizadeh asserts that the “enemy” can also be a force for unifying supporters and creating loyalty as a result of the imaginary threat and no matter how much Iran’s “enemies” try, the country’s leaders will not change its policies towards them.

The ruling clerics cannot afford not to have such outstanding “enemies” and that if Iran does not have an enemy, it will have to create one to survive, Rafizadeh concludes.

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