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Khamenei on the Brink: An External War to Suppress an Internal Uprising?
As the fires of war reach Khamenei's cloak, and in an attempt to manage the situation, Araqchi is touring countries in the region. In this context, the newspaper “Ham Mihan” wrote in its issue dated October 21: “War is poison… It is very easy to sit in a closed room and imagine that we are moving towards a grand plan and a comprehensive war, and we can call that the theory of resistance. But in reality, the victims are ordinary people who are killed in the war...”
This official media ignores that their cursed Imam, Khomeini, considered the inhumane war a “blessing” and described peace as a “burial of Islam.” When the Iranian Resistance forced him to accept a "ceasefire" thanks to the peace policy it pursued, he described it as a “cup of poison” worse than death.
What is even more striking is what was stated in the official newspaper “Jomhouri-ye Islami” in its October 20 issue, where it wrote: “One of the most dangerous concepts being propagated in our country is that welcoming war represents courage, while attempts to avoid it are seen as a form of fear. There should be no doubt that war is evil, and everyone should strive to avoid it. In this emotional climate, where some are beating the drums of war, the pursuit of peace and attempts to prevent war is, in itself, courage.”
Last week, dozens of narratives appeared on the state television and official media, reflecting despair and fear of the consequences of igniting war. The Friday prayer leaders appointed by Khamenei, who are accustomed to raising the morale of fearful people, actually exhibited an atmosphere of fear and despair. For instance, Mullah Mokhtari in Birjand stated: “They say: Sir, Israel and Palestine are fighting; what do we have to do with them? What do we have to do with Palestine? What do we have to do with Yemen, Syria, and Iraq? Let's take care of ourselves! We should spend the money we spend there on ourselves. If we spent this money here, such and such would happen. What do we have to do with their conflicts?!”
Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament and the former head of Khamenei's broadcasting institution and current advisor, attempted to respond to the concerns of the fearful by saying: “Some wonder why Iran supported the resistance, leading to this animosity with Israel… As I mentioned, it is about our national security and interests” (State Television, October 20).
Larijani's words echoed the same logic expressed by Hossein Shariatmadari, Khamenei's representative in the Kayhan newspaper, who responded to the question, “Many people wonder why we are leading the country to the brink of war?” with: “We are paying the price for our security” (State Television, October 20).
The truth is that igniting war is the price for the regime's “security,” and the bloodthirsty successor uses the Palestinian issue as a pretext to prevent the uprising inside Iran, a fact that has been clear for over a year. Khamenei has repeatedly stated that if he stopped igniting wars outside Iran's borders, he would have to face popular uprisings and combat the uprising's youth and resistance units in Tehran and other Iranian cities.
What is new is the wave of fear and panic prevailing among the “core forces of the regime” under Khamenei as the likelihood of strategic defeat increases. In this context, a governmental expert wrote in an article titled “Decline of National Power”: “Amid a complex war, we must ask: Has our ideal regional policy strengthened our national position or weakened it?... In last October, after Hamas's attack on Israel, I repeatedly mentioned that Israel seeks to destroy Gaza, then turn towards Hezbollah in Lebanon, and finally Iran. With the assassinations and explosions witnessed in Gaza and Lebanon, these predictions began to be realized, and the current concern is that the scope of the war may extend to Iran as planned by Israel” (Setareh Sobh newspaper, October 19).
