The fireworks and jubilation in some parts of Iran over the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash underline the country’s socio-cultural and political upheaval. Raisi, the face of repression in the Islamic Republic of Iran, was one of the country’s most hated public figures until his death. It was to his portrait that Iranian women, seeking personal and political freedom, raised their middle fingers and wore headscarves.
But Raisi was also a symbol of something bigger in Iran’s internal and external affairs. He led a crackdown on the Women’s Freedom for Life movement in 2022, wearing a black robe and hat modeled after the ayatollah, a powerful Shiite cleric. Raisi has positioned himself not only as Iran’s political leader but also as its religious leader, with acts such as kissing the Quran at the United Nations General Assembly last year.
Religion and politics: a timeless combination
Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic has relentlessly bureaucratized the clergy and theologized the bureaucracy and politics, but it would be naive to think that the politicization of religion began just then. Or, it would be naive to think that it started only in Iran.
Mr. Raisi can be considered an “ordinary man” on the world political stage, representing all politicians who seek legitimacy and power through overt religiosity. Paradoxically and interestingly, they are often rejected and undermined by “true” religious ones. For example, Raisi was not considered an ayatollah by many clerics, including the clergy of Iran’s Qom Seminary, the most prestigious religious institution and his alma mater. The title “Ayatollah” is earned by a cleric only after completing the most advanced seminary study, Dars Khaleji. Raisi was also not a senior religious official like his predecessor, Hassan Rouhani.
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So was Raisi the proverbial empty vessel when it came to religion? Certainly he liked to make noise, as when he declared during his first presidential bid in 2017 that it was his “religious and revolutionary responsibility” to run for president. Raisi’s good relationship with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei made him a front-runner in the race to succeed him. His potential ascension could complete a chain of events that began with his role as a judicial official in the 1989 mass executions of political dissidents ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
inner crisis
Iran is currently in a state of crisis. The ongoing conflict with Israel has not helped its domestic politics. Retaliatory attacks on Israel after the April 1st attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus show that the Iranian government has no appetite for full-scale war. But as with all dictatorships, the main threat to the Islamic Republic comes from within. The succession battle for the position of Supreme Leader is also ongoing. Despite brutal repression, the battle between religious dogmatism and modernity is intensifying.
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This is how great civilizations, once beacons of enlightenment, end up in their graves. This is when all sense of balance is lost and nationalism reaches a point of no return. Today, Iran has few friends left, and they too are condemned by most of the world’s superpowers. Raisi’s death has so far not been attributed to foul play, but rumors continue to spread. Iran’s political and military leaders have been removed by hostile forces in the past. The assassination of General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in 2020 has not yet been forgotten.
Growing disillusionment
Iran, one of the main enemies of the United States, once praised the US invasion of Iraq as an act of justice. It cooperated with the US against the Taliban in Afghanistan. It rallied Kurdish and Shiite militias against ISIS in Iraq. Many of Iran’s decisions are based on sectarian interests in the region, which has led to geopolitical realignments. But what will it take for Iran to keep its own country in order? The answer is clear:
Iranians are becoming disillusioned with the Islamic Republic’s heavy-handed approach. The utopian state that was promised at the time of the revolution to overthrow the corrupt monarchy is nowhere to be found. Recalling the past glories of Persian civilization and using religion as an opium will not help the regime. Religion will not disappear, nor will the traditional values of Iranian society. People are beginning to see through the deceptive politicization of religion. As Ayatollah Khamenei gradually removes the people from participatory democracy, the post-revolutionary political society is now beginning to resemble the monarchy it overthrew.
Iran is issuing a warning to all societies that believe in a dramatic transition. Especially religion-bound transitions. Only 1.4% of Iranians identify themselves as atheists, but they are tired of the overbearing presence of atheists in public life. Raisi, the Islamic Republic’s apparatchik, forced performative religiosity on the Iranian people. Being gagged in this way can eventually result in vomiting. Stirring your stomach economically will speed up this elimination process.
(Nishta Gautam is a Delhi-based writer and scholar.)
Disclaimer: These are the author’s personal opinions.
