Iran has its own internal unrest. It is a young country ruled by old men
About 72 per cent of its population was not born at the time of the “Islamic Revolution” of 1979 – when the theocratic authority led by the Ayatollahs seized power after the US-backed regime was forced from power
Two years ago, young people – women in particular – took to the streets in protest after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody when she was arrested because her hijab did not sufficiently cover her hair
The so-called “morality police” detained her. She later died in custody
‘An unstable system’
Ali Ansari, professor and founding director of the Institute of Iranian studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, said Iran is far from stable
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“It’s a volatile system, an unstable system, and one that’s vulnerable to all sorts of change” Ansari said. “I don’t think the regime in its current configuration can last. It’s simply not sustainable”
This was Ansari's third visit to Iran. What struck me most this time was the number of women not wearing hijabs. That likely would not have been tolerated two years ago – as the case of Amini showed
While some may have felt empowered to remove their hijab, many of the women we spoke to, feared the consequences of talking to media about their decision
Undercover
Knowing how dangerous it can be for Iranians to speak openly, we commissioned an undercover local team to conduct interviews
The nine people they spoke to, in four different cities, were all born after the 1979 revolution
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“For us, living in Iran is like hell” one man said “a hell created by a dictatorial regime for its own people”
He said many Iranians opposed “any kind of warmongering” in the region and his government’s position on what some call “the big war” which would see Iran deploying Hezbollah, a proxy in Lebanon
Iranian money funding terrorists
“Hezbollah’s hostilities are funded by the money that comes out of Iranians pockets. They buy weapons with our money and kill innocent people
We have no foreign policy at all. Their policies cause war and chaos in the region”
Another man said:
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“Iran seeks to dominate the entire Middle East, even other countries.
Now they’re spending the country’s wealth on Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen and Palestine, while many Iranians are struggling with hunger and misery”
A young woman said her generation had been “utterly devastated”
“Our youth has been stolen by the revolution” she said “After the [Mahsa Amini] protests, many were executed, tortured and imprisoned. There is a real fear of the government”
Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian academic and political analyst, who’s close to the regime; paints a different picture
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“I don’t think the Israeli regime would want a direct conflict with Iran because Iran definitely has the upper hand
“The danger right now is that since Netanyahu has failed in Gaza and … the image of Israel has been demolished across the world … he may feel that his only option for survival is to carry out a major attack”
full Four Corners investigation The Big War available on ABC iview
