71. Beyond Control: Iran and its Opponents Locked in a Lopsided Confrontation
- Author:
- Borzou Daragahi
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- For much of its four decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been blessed with a weak political opposition. While Iran has faced competent and powerful foreign enemies—such as Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, the United States, and Israel—its Iranian political challengers, both domestically and abroad, have been largely fragmented, unrealistic in their aims, and sometimes as authoritarian as the regime. But, though few credible Iran watchers argue that opposition groups and figures arrayed against Tehran’s establishment pose a serious threat, Iran treats them as if they are mortal dangers to the regime. This paper attempts to sketch out the landscape of the various major political opposition groups, and begin to grapple with the question of why Iran perceives them as such a challenge.
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus