Abstract

History often turns on symbols. In January 2026 when weather conditions were giving everything an icy dull appearance the Islamic Republic was faced with the biggest challenge to its survival that it had to contend with post-1979. And it was the veil not the centrifuges not the missiles that emerged as the symbol of the failure of the Republic. For almost forty-seven years the ruling clergy in Tehran managed to maintain their position by leveraging these two main factors: their resistance against the so-called “Great Satan” and social conservatism that they associate with Islamic religion. During all this time this equilibrium existed no matter how precarious. However for the past two years as the Iranian economy was crumbling on account of the international sanctions and the drums of war were sounding so loudly on the border the regime had made an imprudent and untenable decision. Rather than taking any step to alleviate the intense hyperinflation that was wiping out the middle class