
After the February 2020 parliamentary elections the political elite in the Islamic Republic homogenised itself, with the reformist current being practically left out of the parliament. The spread of the coronavirus strengthened once again the contradictions between the country’s elite and the people, for whom Iran is part of the world and not only the sponsor of „the axis of resistance” in the Middle East
Vladimir Mitev
This article will be published in the Bulgarian magazine “New Times”
The year 2020 started with fears from world war, which followed the murder of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. It continued with the hysteria around the spread of the coronavirus, which stirred the imposition of state of emergency in Bulgaria, Romania and other European countries. Now high-ranking politicians and experts claim in media that we are in a state of war with bacteriological weapon.
Such fears from war and extinction are not something new in the last thirty years, in which Bulgarians have passed through a lot of social cataclysms and crises. But our country was never under the threat of a military conflict with its neighbour or international factor. How would have we felt, if we lived in one of the key countries of the Middle East – Iran, and there was a constant threat haunting us – not only if we belong to the elite of the country, but also if we feel part of the common people? How do the Iranian elite and people see their role in the Middle East, where after 2001 there is an intense rearrangement of forces?
Continue reading “Iran and the world: crisis and resistance”