Arang Keshavarzian: ‘This is the moment for new opposition voices in Iran’ |
Arang Keshavarzian: ‘This is the moment for new opposition voices in Iran’
'Many, if not most, feel crushed between a deeply repressive and unresponsive political system and an attack on Iran's sovereignty by the United States and Israel.'
Arang Keshavarzian is a professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University. Born in Iran and raised in the United States, his latest book is Making Space for the Gulf: Histories of Regionalism and the Middle East (Stanford University Press).
You have expressed skepticism regarding top-down democratic transitions. Is there a risk of a new form of authoritarianism emerging?
At the moment, everything is extremely uncertain. With the death of the Supreme Leader, a power struggle will unfold in Iran. However, the regime – namely the security apparatus, a portion of the clergy, certain sectors of big business and the political class – has remained united and cohesive. We have not witnessed any significant defections, either before or after the protests and massacres in January. During the June war and the current Israeli and US assault, the military personnel who were killed have been rapidly replaced. At the same time, security forces are patrolling the streets, threatening people against collaborating with “the........