Fariba Adelkhah, anthropologist: 'The Western view of Iranian society is binary and ignores its increasing complexity'

LeMonde

7 hours ago

The anthropologist in me – and I speak only in that capacity – is stunned by the gap between the complexity of Iranian society, which I have studied for 40 years, and the simplistic, if not ignorant, approach shown by Israeli, American, and European governments as they conduct or legitimize this war of aggression against the Islamic Republic. The confusion of the aggressors' objectives is also striking: Is their goal the destruction of the nuclear program or regime change?
From the standpoint of international law, this is undeniably a war of aggression, described as "preventive," in the name of a presumed, and perhaps largely fantasized, danger. Netanyahu speaks of the "existential" Iranian nuclear threat, much as Putin invokes "Nazism" in Ukraine. As an Iranian saying goes, "When one wants to commit a crime, one puts on religious garb." And what is this "good" that is supposedly being delivered to the Iranian people, or this "evil" from which they are to be rescued? Is it worth cynically risking a nuclear accident through bombing and leaving the civilian population to suffer the consequences for decades? Does the Middle East need a Chernobyl on top of all its other misfortunes? Can democracy be imposed by foreign arms?
Thus, a false dichotomy is drawn. On one hand, there's the "good" Iran – that of the "civil society," of the " Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, of the increasingly Trump-aligned opposition in exile amplified by a handful of prominent intellectuals and by most conservative media. And on the other hand, the "bad" Iran, composed of Islam, the mullahs, and the "dictatorship" of the supreme leader, who is seen as the mastermind of both repression and the nuclear program.
Children of Khomeini
This binary view of Iranian society ignores the ever-increasing complexity of its reality, due to its diversity, urbanization, educational level, and global reach through its diaspora. It also conceals its history. Like it or not, and whether they fought him or not, all Iranians are children of Khomeini. Most have no memory of the shah's regime and were instead shaped by an Islamic republic that molded them. This influence comes not only through coercion, but also through countless everyday interactions and ongoing co-optation within political and economic institutions. Family ties often bind people across political divides – or intensify those divisions, turning political conflicts into fratricidal ones.