Earlier this year I read a beautiful novel set primarily in Iran prior to the Islamic Revolution. Through the friendship of Ellie and Homa, The Lion Women of Tehran explores social class, politics, womanhood, fortune — and misfortune.
As in any book about modern Iran, Lion Women contains so much sadness. What left me the saddest, in the way the characters coalesce at the end (no spoilers!), is that it’s been over 45 years since the ayatollahs took power. Did anyone, especially Iranians, believe the regime — and its oppression — would last this long?
In those 45 years, Iran has become the leading state-sponsor of terrorism, cultivating terror groups and networks that have cost countless innocent lives and bred death cults.
Iran has ensured that southern Lebanon and Gaza remain under its firm control, with the entirety of Lebanon essentially a failed state. Constant war in the Middle East is Iran’s legacy.
In 45 years, Iran has lost its brightest — nearly 25% of its population with the equivalent of a college degree have left the country.
In 45 years, the ayatollahs have sacrificed their citizens’ well being in order to maintain geopolitical power.
In the last decade, there have been major uprisings against the government — yet it continues to maintain control.
In the year before Oct. 7, Iran was plagued by growing protest after the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by Iran’s morality police for not wearing a hijab. In the protests that followed, hundreds were killed and eight protesters were executed by the state. The state’s crackdown contributed to the protests petering out, but I suspect Oct. 7 also played a role. In a media landscape that tends to obsess on a few select topics (to the detriment of so many others), Israel-Palestine became the item du jour. (Subsequently, Trump and Musk overtook Gaza’s prime position, though it still remains high on the shortlist.)
After so much turmoil and perennially teetering on economic collapse, how is Iran still an Islamic Republic? It comes down to four letters: IRGC — Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
That is the group that controls Iran (and its terror proxies). How does it fund itself? According to many foreign policy experts, drug trafficking. It’s not quite the Sinaloa Cartel, but what they do have in common is they are both quasi-governments, the real regional power brokers.
Until the IRGC is stopped, Iran will never be free of the revolution’s shackles.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at shana@ijn.com
