Despite what is on the surface of the events in Iran, the research in depth shows that the existing Iranian regime is entering into a (deep identity crisis). The (Umm Al-Qura) project, which was heralded by a number of leaders and laid plans for its implementation, faces not only difficulties and resistance, but also exhaustion. The project is that Iran, under the rule of the jurist (divine rule), has an integrated project to lead the region, especially the Arab neighborhood, to a better place in its opinion.
However, that better place did not crystallize, but in fact became the (worst) place, whether in increasing poverty, unemployment and spreading corruption, not only in Iran but in every spot where Iran has influence.
The identity crisis was described by the Iranian thinker Ali Shariati, where he spent the mental effort to differentiate between Alawite Shiism and Safavid Shiism, and the latter is an Iranian (formula) for the paradox with the Arabs, whose conversion to Iran was and still is called (the Arab invasion). The crisis is between Arabic, the language of the Arabs, and the language of Islam, and between Islam that adopts the Arabic language and (contempts the Arabs)! The existing identity complex lies in Iran.
This knot has different manifestations, so the separation of Iran since the Safavid era, from what it was to the Safavid Shiism, is an attempt to confirm the (Iranian identity), an identity that could not return to before Islam, and thus disengage from the effects of the Arab (invasion), nor is it able to coexist. Between Arabic, the language of religion, and the historical Iranian civilization.
The return to the Persian Empire is what constitutes today what is silent about the Umm Al-Qura project, that is, influence under a colorful mixture of Shiism and nationalism, which made the Iranian state, after getting rid of the Shah, drain its money, energy, diplomacy, and all its forces to achieve that imagined project.
With the passage of time, the Iranian peoples felt that their (night) would be prolonged, hence the protests erupted, which today have become months, these protests have so far provided hundreds of victims, whether those killed in the streets during the protests, or those who hung on the gallows, and most of the others were tortured until Some of them came to the point that they (confessed what they did not do) only in order to expedite their transition to the other world, away from the daily torture they were facing.
It is clear that the (identity crisis) has come to an end after a long patience of waiting for reforms to be undertaken by the regime. On the other hand, abroad is a source of nationalism, and here history reminds us of one of its paradoxes. Repression was one of the most important tools of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in confronting the demands for change. On the contrary, it was a motive for internal resistance and protest. As for exporting problems abroad, they extend from the (Gulf policeman) in the past, to the official protest against the Gulf session in Basra a week ago, and it is a protest that carries all the meanings of trying to cover up internal problems.
Today, history returns to write what was written in the past, with an increase in technical development and methods of resistance, as a number of the families of the murdered declared in the streets or on the execution platforms that they would not accept condolences for their children, as they said, not now, but on (liberation day)!
Today, protesters are being killed in the streets of Iranian cities and some of them are hung on gallows under the interpretation of a traditional idea (corrupters in the land), which is a rubber term used in order to deepen a priestly authority that is paradoxical to the times, and believes that it speaks in the name of the Creator and controls the necks of millions of people who are fed up with this kind of interpretation. The unseen heritage of human freedom and interests.
Mostly, the Umm Al-Qura project is the last of the projects that was based on the idea of (kinetic Islam) and which failed, whether its survival in power was long like Sudan, or short like Egypt and everything in between, only the Iranian regime is the longest in survival, as it confused national lust And sectarian ambition was a successful mixture for a while.
Public discourse began among Iranian forces that the idea of (Wilayat al-Faqih) is an emergent idea in Shiite thinking, and it was appropriate to mobilize millions of people at that time to overthrow the Shah’s regime. However, time has proven that overthrowing a human dictator does not mean bringing another who claims to have divine authority. And therefore, it must be obeyed. The history of the Iranian peoples resists the involvement of the jurists in politics. They are only a precaution for change, but they should not lead the change and control the public power.
The sight of the turbans being toppled in the streets of Iranian cities was evidence of the Iranian street’s boredom with this class, which with long experience has shown that it is not free from corruption and abuse of influence.
Two opposition currents are mixed in Iran today, the first is the paradoxical school of velayat-e faqih, which is conservative, but is not convinced of the form and actions of the existing rule, and another liberal one that calls for a different form of modern rule, but the scenes that erupted in Iran will continue in different forms, and will not increase. Repression or attempts to flirt with national sentiments, unless they insist on their project of change.
The Iranian revolution was based on a broad alliance, most notably the clergy, the bazaar men, and the educated class with Western education. And with the increase in poverty, unemployment, and the spread of corruption, this rule is no longer able to carry the rule more than its eagerness for change.
Finally:
The slogan (Zin Zandaki Azadi) Women, Life, Freedom has become a global slogan and will be repeated by generations of Iranians.