By Sadegh Pashm-Foroush
Five days after Iran’s people massively boycotted the first round of the regime’s sham presidential elections on June 28, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was forced to admit, “In the first stage, participation was less than we expected,” and added dismissively, “If anyone thinks those who did not vote did so because they opposed the system, this understanding is completely wrong.” He then openly laid the groundwork for fraud and manipulation, promising higher participation in the second round.
The desperate supreme leader, despite repeated pleas and requests, faced a 91% boycott in the second round. He ridiculously combined the fraudulent votes from both rounds and claimed, “The people came out… they filled the ballot boxes with over 55 million votes in two stages!… This great movement, in confronting the artificial uproar of the election boycott created by the enemies of the Iranian nation to instill despair and deadlock, is a brilliant and unforgettable work.”
In these statements, the impact of the boycott’s hammer-like blow to the regime is clearly evident. In his confusion from this blow, Khamenei vividly demonstrated how deeply he is burned and tormented by the “uproar of the boycott” and how troubled he is by the “despair and deadlock” that this boycott has cast over the entire regime.
Indeed, the “brilliant and unforgettable work” is his own creation, combining the manipulated results of the two elections, a task usually performed by the Ministry of the Interior with a host of aides. This act, unprecedented in the history of fraudulent elections worldwide, turned two defeats—one admitted to just a week earlier—into a 55 million-vote victory. This is the art of reframing defeat and disgrace into victory.
Despite all this posturing, Khamenei could not hide two major concerns and fears in his message.
First, knowing that his broken regime is entering a new phase of turmoil and crisis from today, he reminded the new appointee, the self-proclaimed “reformist” Massoud Pezeshkian, to “continue Raisi’s path” and added, “Make the most of the country’s vast resources, especially the young and revolutionary human resources.” This means that Ebrahim Raisi’s successor is not only required to continue Raisi’s path of maximum contraction, repression, execution, plunder, and pillage, but also to use the “young and revolutionary human resources,” referring to Raisi’s government, which Khamenei called the “young and Hezbollahi” and “revolutionary” government. These descriptions apply only to those who are his absolute obedient followers. Three days before the first round of the sham election, Khamenei had sternly advised the “candidates” that “if you succeed and can get a position, do not choose your people and officials from those who have even the slightest deviation from the revolution [meaning the Supreme Leader]… anyone who… has even the slightest deviation is not suitable for you” (June 25, 2024).
Second, although Pezeshkian has explicitly stated that he is fully loyal to the supreme leader, Khamenei is well aware of the reality behind these words. He knows that the infighting over power is the inevitable nature of his regime. Thus, he “recommends” that the regime’s opposing factions “transform the competitive behaviors of the election period into friendly norms.” However, he himself knows well that when it comes to power and plunder, such recommendations are worthless, and the escalation of crisis and division is inevitable.
With Raisi’s downfall and the collapse of Khamenei’s dreams of consolidation, the regime is facing a new balance. This shows Khamenei’s deadlock and evokes the final stage of the Shah. The impact has shaken the pillars of the regime. The regime is riddled with holes from within, and the wolves are tearing each other apart. At this point, not even a pretender reformist can save the crisis-riddled regime.
This article was first published by english.mojahedin
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