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Another Stupid Islamophobic War but this time against the most representative and independent country in the Muslim World

By Iqbal Suleiman

Today, America and Israel launched an unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war against Iran. The two nuclear countries that are responsible for the Islamophobic Genocide in Gaza, are today dropping bombs on the heads of school children in Iran and simultaneously claiming that this is a war to bring freedom for the Iranian people through regime change.

Those who source information primarily from the mainstream corporate media have been made to believe that there are no elections in Iran and the people do not chose their leaders. References are made to a country governed by an “authoritarian regime”, “dictatorship” and “mad mullahs”.  This colonialist narrative framing is dominant throughout the corporate media by outlets such as BBC, CNN, FOX, the New York Times, Washington Post and the Guardian etc. Mind you even news outlets in the Arab and Muslim world where you would expect alternative reporting have been peddling this colonized language as is the case with Aljazeera where Iran is always referred to as a “Regime” and somewhat shockingly in a recent piece by Rashid Omar on Iran in the Al Qalam newspaper in South Africa.

The specific effort to describe Iran as a “Regime” is intended to delegitimize the Iranian Government. Who can blame you if you believe that the Iranian Government has no support from its people if your primary point of reference is the mainstream western media?  The same media that manufactured consent for the illegal and Islamopobic war on Iraq.

Let’s set the record straight.

A referendum on creating an Islamic Republic was held in Iran on the 30th and 31 March 1979 and 98.2% of eligible citizens voted in the referendum with 99.3 percent voting in favour of an Islamic Government. This demonstrates that the Islamic Government at its very inception received overwhelming support from its citizens.

Iran holds presidential elections every four years. The President of Iran is elected by popular elections. Iran has universal suffrage where all adult citizens are eligible to vote and they can do so freely.  The fact is that since the 1979 revolution, Iran has held regular elections with a voter turnout averaging more than 55% of the electoral vote.

The first presidential election was held in 1980 with a voter turnout of 63.6%.

In 1985 it was 66.4%

In 1989 it was 72.7%. The high turnout in this election was after the passing of Imam Khomeini and the majority of Iranians again overwhelming expressing their support for the Islamic Government after leader of the Revolution had passed.

In 1993 the turnout was 49.5%.

In 1997 it was 79.5%.

In 2001 it was 63.4%.

In 2009 it was 49.5%.

In 2009, it was 85%.

In 2013 it was 72.7%.

In 2017 it was 73%.

In 2021 it was 48.8%.

The last presidential election was in 2024 after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi. The voter turnout in this election run off was 49.6%, apparently amongst the lowest voter turnouts since the Revolution. Reformist candidate Masood Pezeshkian ascended to the Presidency with 16.3 million votes whereas his rival principalist Saeed Jalili obtained 13.5 million votes. Close to 30 million Iranians voted in the last elections. The Iranian political system is a highly contested space. Pezeshkian is a reformist who seeks more engagement with the West and further relaxation of social laws whereas Principlaists advocate for the continuation of revolutionary principles and defiance towards Imperialism.

A glance at the presidential electoral results tells us that the Islamic Government has had overwhelming popular support. When you have voter turnouts of 72%, 73%, 79% and 85%, the figures speak for themselves. Interestingly the voter turnout in Iran surpasses that of most Western liberal democracies.  It is true that in the last two presidential elections, the voter turnout was low but even at 48%, the turnout is considered acceptable in Western democracies.

The Iranian Government is far from perfect. It has its failings but it is for the people of Iran alone to decide the form of Government they want and who they want to elect to govern them.

The allegation that the government lacks legitimacy is not rooted in facts because close to 50% of the eligible voters participated in the elections. Here we are talking about the last elections in 2024 with amongst the lowest voter turnout of approximately 30 million people. Make no mistake, this war on Iran seeking regime change translates into American and Israeli bombs on the 30 million Iranian ballots.  Should regime change result from American Israeli military intervention, these thirty million Iranians will know that it is a war against their democratically elected government and will have a right to resort to taking up arms against a regime installed by America and Israel.

Instead of probing why the West and the Trump administration in particular failed so dismally in political engagement with the Pezeshkian administration which was open to political dialogue, the mainstream media instead peddles the fictitious narrative that the Iranian government lacks legitimacy because it has no support from the Iranian people.  Pezeshkian ran on an electoral ticket that promoted dialogue with the West and a resolution to the nuclear dispute. The Pezeshkian administration was engaging in dialogue in good faith with the Trump administration and the Omani mediators told the American media today that a deal was very close but America and Israel bombed Iran today. Trump walked away from peace and chose war because Israel wanted war with Iran.

By presenting a false narrative that the Islamic Government is a “Regime”, unelected and illegitimate, the mainstream media is deliberately seeking to delegitimize Iran and “other” the Iranian people in order to manufacture consent for war against Iran. Have you ever heard Western media make any reference to the legitimacy and electoral support for Governments in the U.A.E, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria or Egypt? These are all “states” but Iran is a “Regime”? These countries are not democracies and the leaders are not popularly elected. These governments are friendly to the U.S and most of them have U.S. military bases. These governments are not hostile to Israel whereas Iran is the most hostile government towards Israel and the biggest supporter of the Palestinian struggle for freedom and self- determination. The primary reason for this barbaric war on Iran is to create Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.  The Muslim Street sees all of this and considers an attack on Iran as an attack on every Muslim in the world and tonight as millions will break their fast in Ramadan with prayers in solidarity with the Iran and the Resistance Axis that will be followed by cursing the Israeli and American soldiers and leaders and invoking God’s curse on the oppressors. Today every Muslim will feel violated and denigrated by the continuation of these endless, racist, unlawful and barbaric wars against Muslim peoples at the instigation of Israel that may possibly result in the deaths of millions of innocent Muslims. Is there an end to this Islamophobic Genocide and stupid wars? As the world’s only Superpower America and the Superpower in the Middle East Israel cowardly with superior military power attack Iran, a country militarily weaker but with the most fearless fighters on earth, you can hear the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in streets of Tehran sing out the lyrics of Robert Nesta Marley “If you are a big tree, we are a small axe, ready to cut you down, sharpened to cut you down”.

 

 

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