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This thread exists to discuss Iran. The thread's scope covers the nation's history, culture, domestic politics and international relations.

Iran's nuclear programme has its own thread

If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines before posting here.

As with other OTC threads, off-topic posts may be thumped or edited by the moderators.

As of June 2024, discussion of US Politics is banned on the forums, as is discussion of Israel and/or Palestine. That also puts discussion of Iran's relationship with those nations (including military actions such as the US bombing raid) off-limits for this thread.


    Original OP 

since the Military Thread seems to have shifted towards Iran, lets talk about them here, we'll start with some videos children


(Updated June 24 2024 to add link to other thread and update banned topic note)

Edited by Mrph1 on Jun 23rd 2025 at 7:56:55 PM

Lyendith Since: Mar, 2011
#226: Dec 11th 2022 at 2:04:47 PM

Has there been any confirmation the morality police have been abolished?

The word I’ve seen used in the media is "suspended", which would indicate it’s not meant to be total or permanent…

Edited by Lyendith on Dec 11th 2022 at 11:05:45 AM

eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#227: Dec 12th 2022 at 11:35:30 PM

Veering across the Iraqi border for a bit, but the think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published this article last month: Iran’s Security Anxiety in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The gist of it is that Iraqi Kurdistan still hosts a smattering of Kurdish insurgent groups opposed to the Iranian government, like the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Iran (KDP-I), Democratic Party of Kurdistan (PDKI) and the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). These groups are typically left-leaning and are not on good terms with the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan, which has been controlled by the centre-right KDP since 1992.

The KDP themselves have a complex relationship with the Iranian government: with an eye on maintaining their autonomy from Baghdad, they spent the US occupation years walking a tightrope between US and Iranian influence, hosting a large US military presence while at the same time trying to stay on good terms with Iranian leaders and even preventing the US from taking action against IRGC operatives on their territory, including Soleimani himself on at least one occasion. The war against ISIS in 2014-2017 complicated that balancing act: many of the Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'a militias that had laid down their arms at the end of the US occupation now returned to the spotlight, styling themselves as vanguards in the holy struggle.

That naturally put them in conflict with the KDP, especially as the militias' axis of advance drew closer and closer to Kurdish territory. All that tension culminated in autumn 2017, when the KDP's leader Masoud Barzani decided to cement his legacy by holding an independence referendum spanning Iraqi Kurdistan. Barzani's gamble proved to be a mistake: Iraqi federal forces, spearheaded by Iran-backed militias, launched an offensive that swiftly beat back Peshmerga forces and took 20% of Kurdish territory, including Kirkuk and the surrounding oilfields. The independence movement petered out, but the KDP have remained in a political cold war against the Shi'a militias and their Iranian backers since then, recently allying up with anti-Iranian Shi'a leader Muqtada al-Sadr to deadlock the Iraqi parliament against the Iran-backed Framework bloc.

Some analysts suggest that the KDP have increasingly tolerated Iranian Kurdish insurgent operations from their territory in response to these developments. The Iranian military, in turn, has responded by increasing airstrikes, artillery strikes and ground incursions (including establishing some long-term bases) into Iraqi Kurdistan, and the rise in armed Kurdish activity that accompanied the ongoing protests managed to draw Iranian government figures into threatening larger cross-border incursions in the future. All that said, though, the Iranian military's presence in Iraqi Kurdistan is still dwarfed by far by Turkish counterparts, who actually cooperate with the KDP and attack PKK/YPG bases in the region at a much higher tempo.


This isn't getting into Iranian Balochestan in the east, which has a similarly long history of armed ethnic separatism and has seen some of the bloodiest crackdowns in the recent protests — like the September 30th massacre in Zahedan, which reportedly killed 96 people. One thing that interests me about Balochestan in particular is the way the Islamic Republic has historically tried to co-opt the narratives of minority struggle there to legitimise its own rule. For example, in 1983, the revolutionary government commissioned a film on Dad Shah, a Balochi farmer who took up arms against the Shah's regime in the '50s:

A couple of years after the movie's release, the Iranian government passed the Gozinesh Law, which restricted access to social services, higher ed and public sector employment to religious minorities, including Sunni Balochis and Kurds. The region remained heavily policed through decades of Balochi pro-independence insurgency, and the drug trade from across the Afghan and Pakistani borders has made the conflict even messier for the impoverished desert province. Iunno if there's any morals you can take away from that, other than how marginalised folks always get porked extra hard in times of conflict and unrest.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Risa123 Since: Dec, 2021 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#228: Dec 13th 2022 at 5:48:24 AM

ISW (Instute for study of war see Ukraine Thread for example)report on protests from December 11 [1]

Per Iran International: Revolutionary Youth Groups In Iran Publish Manifesto For Future [2] EDIT: note how trustable are those sources in this case ?

Edited by Risa123 on Dec 13th 2022 at 2:53:13 PM

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#229: Dec 17th 2022 at 7:12:03 PM

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/17/iranian-actor-taraneh-alidoosti-arrested-after-criticism-of-death-penalty

Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti is arrested for being critical on the use of the death penalty against those arrested in the protests.

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#230: Jan 7th 2023 at 6:37:09 PM

Just be warned that Iran is tighetening the internet noose, so it'll be hard for most of us to follow what's happening in Iran with the protest.

From what I heard now, Iran carried out the sentencing of Mohammad Mehdi Karami, ex-karate athlete, by death despite pleas to have him spared from it. He's convicted for supposedly being involved in the death of a Basij militiaman.

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#231: Jan 8th 2023 at 1:20:13 AM

At least she [up][up] has been released on bail now.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#232: Jan 8th 2023 at 2:26:10 AM

Yeah. She was.

That was some good news.

HallowHawk Since: Feb, 2013
#233: Jan 27th 2023 at 9:51:29 AM

On Azerbaijan-Iran relations: Embassy of the former to the latter attacked.

BAKU, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A gunman shot dead a security guard and wounded two other people at Azerbaijan's embassy in Iran on Friday, in an attack Baku branded an "act of terrorism" that it said was the result of Tehran failing to heed its calls for improved security.

Police in Tehran said they had arrested a suspect and Iranian authorities condemned the incident, but said the gunman appeared to have had a personal, not a political motive.

The incident comes amid increased tensions between the two neighbouring countries over Iran's treatment of its large ethnic Azeri minority and over Azerbaijan's decision this month to appoint its first ever ambassador to Israel.

[...]

A grey-haired man identified as the attacker was later shown on Iranian state TV saying he had acted to secure the release of his Azeri wife who he believed was being held at the embassy.

A young woman identified as the man's daughter said her mother was in Azerbaijan. "My mother is not in the embassy and I told him that but he did not accept that," she said.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi called for "a comprehensive investigation" of the incident and sent his condolences to Azerbaijan and the dead man's family, Iranian state media said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, quoted on a government site, said that based on evidence and initial observations the gunman's motive was "completely personal".

"Necessary security measures have been taken to continue normal activities at the embassy and diplomats of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran," he said.

AZERI ANGER

Azerbaijan's foreign ministry responded strongly to the attack, summoning Iran's ambassador in Baku to demand justice and saying it would evacuate its embassy staff from Tehran.

It said an "anti-Azerbaijani campaign" in Iran had contributed to the attack, without elaborating, and accused Tehran of long ignoring its appeals to boost embassy security.

"Unfortunately, the latest bloody terrorist act demonstrates the serious consequences of the failure to give the necessary attention to our constant appeals in this regard," it said.

Iran's Amirabdollahian later told Azeri Foreign Minister Jayran Bairamov in a phone call that he hoped the attack would not damage bilateral ties.

[...]

Azerbaijan, a secular Muslim former Soviet republic, has friendly ties with the United States and Israel and has had difficult diplomatic relations with Iran.

Azerbaijan appointed its first ever ambassador to Israel this month. Israel has had an embassy in Baku since the early 1990s and has been a significant military backer of Azerbaijan in recent years. It has also provided diplomatic support for Baku in its standoff with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards carried out major military drills along the country’s borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan amid fears of renewed fighting between the two South Caucasus states last year.

Quoted passages relevant to this thread. More on Azerbaijani government responses can be found in the Tension in Southern Caucacus thread.

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#234: Jan 28th 2023 at 9:16:32 PM

There's some videos going around that saboteur teams are blowing up factories making the Shahed drones.

miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#235: Jan 28th 2023 at 11:47:16 PM

So uh who is it?

Israel? Ukraine? us special forces? Saudia Arabia? Iran have tons of enemies.

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#236: Jan 28th 2023 at 11:48:24 PM

Can't tell from the videos online, except the Shahed factories going boom.

The_Dag Past Self in a Mirror from Bad to Worse (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Snooping as usual
Past Self in a Mirror
#237: Jan 28th 2023 at 11:55:47 PM

Who are the Iranian government themselves blaming it on?

Mankind is unloveable. No more kindness!
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#239: Feb 7th 2023 at 9:53:03 PM

Guardian: Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi released on bail after hunger strike. The longtime auteur, who most recently directed the fourth wall-breaking underground piece No Bears last year, was arrested in July (before the protests) for coming to a prosecutor's office to protest the arrest of fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#240: Feb 9th 2023 at 8:19:32 PM

SBS: An Iranian-Australian protester was hospitalised after a violent altercation with Australian Federal Police while protesting outside the Iranian Embassy in Canberra. The protester, who only gave his name as "Hamid", was a 14-year veteran of the Australian Defence Force and suffered broken ribs and a spinal injury as a result of the alleged police assault.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#241: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:01:27 PM

The Intercept: Amid Ongoing Iran Protests, Congress Boosts Cultish MEK Exile Group. So it seems that there's a resolution draft sponsored by a bipartisan group of 160 US congresscritters that 1) aims to express support to Iranian protesters (cool) and 2) explicitly props up Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the infamous Mojahedin-e-Khalq, as the leader of the opposition (ehh).

The MEK, for those unfamiliar, is a rather esoteric group that originated in the '60s leftist student resistance against the Shah. They escalated to urban insurgency in the '70s and joined the wide umbrella of groups that brought down the regime in the 1979 revolution, before being outlawed by the Islamic Republic. Throughout the '80s, they made their home base in Iraq, where Saddam employed their fighters in his war against the Islamic Republic. They were also widely believed to be responsible for several bombings and assassinations in Iran, including the 1981 Hafte Tir bombing that killed Khomeini's second-in-command, Mohammad Beheshti.

The group's founding ideology has been described as a fusion between revolutionary Marxism and Shi'a Islam, though it has since morphed into a personality cult surrounding its founders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. A slew of Western governments listed it as a terrorist organisation shortly after 9/11, when they were looking to cooperate with the Iranian government on combating Al-Qaeda; US forces bombed their bases in Iraq during the 2003 invasion, prompting them to surrender. The group also had its members targeted for assassination by Iranian government agents, as well as its Paris offices raided by French police. As Western relations with Iran soured, though, the group regained influence alongside other opposition factions and was delisted from the US terror group registry in 2012.

I first heard about high-ranking US politicians cavorting with the MEK in 2018, when John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani attended their rally in Paris (useful read if you don't feel like giving clicks to Glenn Greenwald's buddies). Like Falun Gong and the Unification Church, the MEK apparently maintains a robust Washington lobby — and like those two groups, it has been accused of extreme indoctrination and social control measures to keep its members in line. More membership dues means more money to bankroll political campaigns, I suppose.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#242: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:05:17 PM

Hmm, The Intercept...

Eh, I'll stick with the summary in the post.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Diana1969 Since: Apr, 2021 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#243: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:13:01 PM

The post links the Resolution Draft by Congress so it's not like the Intercept are full of it here. What Eagleoftheninth posted is in-line with what I've read about the MEK. They're a very...odd organization, to put it lightly.

I remembered talking to a few people whose families fled Iran roughly around the time of the Islamic Republic's foundation and the breakout of war with Iraq. They don't have positive views of the MEK because of their siding with Saddam.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#244: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:24:26 PM

TBF, the resolution only seems to refer to Maryam Rajavi by name once.

Whereas, on June 30, 2018, tens of thousands of people gathered in Paris at the Free Iran gathering where they supported advocates for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran, and showed support for the opposition leader Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan for the future of Iran, which calls for the universal right to vote, free elections, and a market economy, and advocates gender, religious, and ethnic equality, a foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence, and a nonnuclear Iran;

But yeah, maybe referring to her as the "opposition leader" is giving her too much credit.

Edited by M84 on Feb 15th 2023 at 3:25:27 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Diana1969 Since: Apr, 2021 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#245: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:31:37 PM

Yeah that's the part where exception is to be taken.

It's not a particularly good look.

eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#246: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:37:18 PM

The gathering mentioned there is the very same MEK event that Bolton and Giuliani attended, just in case that wasn't clear. Citing it as a political blueprint isn't really the best look.

And yeah, the "democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran" line sounds appealing on paper. But the Moonies also said the same things about North Korea in a glitzy rally virtually attended by (among others) Trump and Abe, and we don't pretend that they're a well-adjusted or credible political actor in any way.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#247: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:38:43 PM

"Democratic People's Republic of Iran" basically.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Diana1969 Since: Apr, 2021 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#248: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:48:03 PM

Not sure what that's supposed to mean.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#249: Feb 14th 2023 at 11:55:31 PM

It's a comparison to the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", or the DPRK. Ie, North Korea.

I was making a point of how the description in the resolution seems an awful lot like an example of People's Republic of Tyranny.

Edited by M84 on Feb 15th 2023 at 3:56:32 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Diana1969 Since: Apr, 2021 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#250: Feb 15th 2023 at 12:29:28 AM

Ahhhh.

Dunno if that'd apply here, it's more just making a western-friendly government, really.

Or leaching off money from donors.


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