Since the rise of the modern state in the 17th century, political legitimacy has come to rest on a social contract, in which the government provides security and sustenance in exchange for the consent of the governed. You, the tenant, will live inside the religious fever dream of a man, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who viewed the state not as a vessel for national advancement, but as a weapon for personal retribution, and whose copious writings offered detailed pronouncements about the religious penalties for fornicating with animals, yet no insights on how to run a modern economy. We will ally with Russia, a country that excised a third of our territory in the 19th century, that occupied and attempted to take more territory in the 20th century, and that benefits from keeping our country isolated so that we cannot compete with them in global energy markets or for influence in Central Asia.
Author: Karim Sadjadpour
Published at: 2026-01-27 23:39:02
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