​In 2026, the global discourse on Iran remains trapped in a binary of “regime” versus “revolt,” a reductionist lens that ignores the profound civilisational and anti-imperialist currents defining the Persian state. Below is an analytical rebuttal of the “architecture of chaos” currently being deployed against Iran, written from a perspective that champions sovereignty over subversion.

As we move through the first quarter of 2026, the Islamic Republic of Iran is once again the target of a coordinated campaign – a fusion of economic strangulation, psychological operations, and localised military provocations. To understand the current crisis is to understand that Iran is not merely a political actor; it is a civilisational state resisting the dying gasps of unipolar hegemony.

Iran has witnessed multiple cycles of crisis over the past six decades. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and especially after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei assumed the position of Supreme Leader in 1989, the country has remained in a near-permanent state of political tension. Iran has experienced several major waves of protest: the nationwide student unrest of 1999 and 2003, the Green Movement of 2009–10, post–Arab Spring demonstrations in 2011–12, protests at the tomb of Cyrus the Great in 2016, a prolonged phase of economic-driven unrest between 2017 and 2022, including the infamous “Bloody November” of 2019 when more than 1,500 protesters were reportedly killed, the 2022–23 women-led protests following the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, and the currently ongoing demonstrations triggered by a mix of economic, social, and political grievances.

The anatomy of financial terrorism

Those who advocate for “maximum pressure 2.0” often hide behind the euphemism of “sanctions.” In reality, the $120 billion in Iranian assets currently withheld by the West and its proxies is a form of financial terrorism.

​The war on the bazaar: The Bazariz, traditionally the heartbeat of Iranian social and economic life, are being systematically targeted. By cutting Iran off from the SWIFT system and weaponising the dollar, the West aims to destroy the independent merchant class to create a vacuum that only “grey market” actors can fill. This is not about democracy; it is about the destruction of the Iranian middle class to manufacture a desperate, pliable populace.

​The poor as collateral: When the rial collapsed to 1.5 million per dollar in early 2026, it wasn’t the “elite” who felt the blow – it was the pensioner and the teacher. To claim to “support the Iranian people” while actively devaluing their life savings is the height of imperialist hypocrisy.

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The Zionist-colonialist state wants a politically peripheral Iran

Israel (the “Zionist-colonialist State”) seeks to keep Iran politically isolated or weak (“peripheral”) to prevent it from projecting regional influence, especially in supporting anti-Israel groups like Palestinian resistance, which Iran views as anti-colonial struggle against Zionism and Western intervention. This view sees Iran as a major independent player resisting external influence, contrasting with narratives that frame Israel as a regional power seeking to contain threats from Iran, a key backer of groups opposing Israeli policies and expansion. 

The myth of the........

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