Abstract
This paper will explore whether the current regime in Iran is a dictatorship, or whether it reflects the will of the Iranian people after years of brutal repression from outside installed forces in their country. This paper will define what a dictatorship is, or at least the generally agreed upon definition, and ask what should be done about the Iranian dictatorship. This paper will get there by providing sources of recent news out of Iran which highlight a country with the need for change to liberate itself, but also ask if that is the best course of action at this time for the Iranian people who are not experiencing any crackdowns that others in the world, namely the ‘free’ nations of the west, are not experiencing either.
Is Iran a dictatorship?
The west and its allies have made a big deal over the current regime in Iran, which is ruled over by the ayatollah, and whether or not that regime is a theocracy or a democracy and have brought into question the legitimacy of the regime in Iran. Iran does have elections, but those elections always seem to be skewed to the side of the conservative base in Iran which is ruled and supported by the theocracy of the ayatollah, therefore giving voters the illusion of choice but in reality only allowing a very small amount of choice, the choice of having the same flavor of candidates with the same policy ruling over. This has led some to call Iran a dictatorship, amongst many other things that the west likes to call Iran. Iran has earned a place in the west as a place of which many call backwards, and brutal. Is it true, these things of Iran? Is Iran really a dictatorship which brutalizes its own people, and limits basic freedoms to its citizens, or is it just western propaganda taking over? Iran is not a democracy, but is a dictatorial theocracy ruled over by the ayatollah, which needs to take extreme measures to crack down on the dissent that such a style of government inevitably brings out.
Iran is a theocracy, if there ever was one. A theocracy is a system of government founded upon the teachings of a religious figure, or a religion. Iran is founded on the teachings of Islam, notably the more hard-line styles of it which deny women basic rights and is used as a weapon to control their population. The leader of Iran, the Ayatollah, is thought to be a messenger straight from Allah and therefore holds divine power over the decisions made in Iran and is revered within the Iranian government. Iran is ruled in a way that makes sure that the candidates who run for office that also see the world in this very narrow way also get to have positions of power, as conservative candidates are given special days of election, and the most coverage of any candidate in Iran. Candidates to challenge them are few and far in between as doing so may mean that your life could be at risk. Oftentimes, just speaking out against the government can get you in a lot of trouble, so dissent is easily kept in check by those who are higher up in Iran. This can be best seen by the recent crackdown on anti government protests in Tehran, the capitol of Iran, which saw cell phone communications disrupted throughout the city in order to quell dissent and a large police force that was used to help keep elections in check and thousands of activists were arrested. (Watson, 2012) Iran has also deployed cyber attacks on its own country in order to curb social media which has been a useful took of rebellions elsewhere in the world. (VOA, 2012) But, is that so different from other countries, these steps? Does anyone, especially the US, have the right to call Iran a dictatorship over these measures? The United States has also seen similar measures used against protestors who were fighting for their rights in the United States by shutting off cell phone service in 2011 in San Francisco and Oakland marches against police brutality (Goodman, 2012), as well as using massive amounts of police to help deal with the occupy protestors who were prevalent in shaping the political landscape recently. It is disagreed whether Iran is a dictatorship for taking these measures, or not, and if all theocracies inherently become dictatorships, but it is indeed true that Iran is seen by many other nations as one that is not free and rightfully so as it seems that Iran does take steps to make sure that its critics continue to have ammunition to use against Iran in giving them that title.
However, is Iran a dictatorship? A dictatorship is usually defined as a country with a central leader that rarely focuses on national interests more than they do on their own interests, and uses brutal measures to control their population. (Mesquita, Smith, 2011) This can describe Iran, which is building a nuclear weapons program that is getting them in hot water throughout the globe with other leaders who are now threatening to strike Iran in the event that they ever possess a nuclear weapon. Iran is a country that oppresses its people, holds fraudulent elections with brutal results if an opposition candidate does well (Amir-Arjomand, 2012) and limits the amount of choice their people are to have. This almost signs like the dictionary definition of dictatorship. Iran has come from a line of dictators, though, and this almost seems like the first one to actually be from Iran and chosen in a way that was the will of the Iranian people, and by that is meant the system and not the current leader in charge.
If Iran is to be labeled as a dictatorship, what is to be done about it? Is it the obligation for the western nations to then intervene in the situation to ‘liberate’ those who are under the peril of such a dictatorship? It is clear Iran is a theocracy, but that does not necessarily mean it is a dictatorship, though. Iran came from a situation in which they had a western installed “Shah” who ruled over them, that was openly a dictatorship, and was implemented and kept in power using brutal measures. (Massoumi, 2009) In 1979 Iran overthrew their government and installed the ayatollah, a hard-line religious cleric, as a reaction the years of western backed dictatorship in their country. Perhaps Iran is just fine with what it is currently doing, and it is not the job of anyone else to tell them how they should rule their country or live their lives after they were brutalized in the past by the United States and the west with a puppet government that caused this second dictatorship to ever come in power in the first place. With the absence of the large scale protests seen against the Shah in Iran, it almost seems that Iran likes it with having a theocracy, far better than they ever did under the Shah, even if it is repressive like the Shah was. The Shah was seen as brutal and repressive and overthrown for a reason, so maybe it is up to the Iranian people to do the same in due time to another regime seen by most of the world as the same thing. Iran has an internal duty to overthrow their own dictatorship if they like, but maybe It is not as bad as it seems to the outside, for a revolutionary generation never forgets the fruits of their struggle and, in due time, always overtakes their oppressors.
In conclusion, Iran may be a dictatorship, and probably is, but it may be better than the situations that the Iranian people have experienced in the past. It may not be up to anyone to install a new leader for them, especially considering the west’s track record of deciding which forms of government is best for a nation that is not theirs. It may just be that Iran is not an ally of the West that they are constantly maligned by the west for not having a government that aligns to their views, as the west rarely acts out of humanitarian reasons. Iran should be left alone, but it is clear that they are a theocratic dictatorship, but it may be in time that the people take care of that problem for themselves, and it should be no one else’s business otherwise. The United States and the West should support organic movements against the Ayatollah from within Iran but stop short of direct intervention or open calls to overthrow the regime. Maybe then we can move closer to what we would define as a truly free world, and the Iranian people can, after years of foreign prodding and intervention in their country, be truly free, sovereign, and autonomous in any way that they like.