IRAN: DOMESTIC REPRESSION, INTERNATIONAL ISOLATION

Gennaio 13, 2023

IRAN: DOMESTIC REPRESSION, INTERNATIONAL ISOLATION

The MED This Week newsletter provides expert analysis and informed insights on the most significant developments in the MENA region, bringing together unique opinions on the topic and reliable foresight on future scenarios.Today we turn the spotlight on Iran, focusing on the regime’s violent repression of the protest movement and the country’s increasing international isolation.

Four months after the outburst of country-wide protests, the Iranian regime is doubling down on its violent repression of the movement and its quest for their greater civic liberties. The government has just appointed a new police chief and has intensified punishments for women who violate the country’s strict dress code. Also, protesters are now being sentenced to death through allegedly hasty trials. Domestically, this crisis has implications also for the economy, which has been suffering from the consequences of prolonged instability and violence. Importantly, however, it will also have implications for the Iran’s external relations. At the regional level, the protests have prompted Tehran to maintain a more cautious stance on its foreign policy. On the global stage, as internal repression grows, Iran’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine is irritating European countries and the US.As a consequence of this situation, the country is embarking on a dangerous path towards international marginalisation, including a harder sanctions regime and possibly the end of any further hope to revive a multilateral nuclear deal.