Last week, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University hosted Fouad Ajami on its weekly interview program, Uncommon Knowledge. In one of the more interesting segments, interviewer Peter Robinson asked Dr. Ajami about the goals of the Iranian regime and what chances the opposition has of success:
I’m worried about people who believe that Twitter and Facebook and so on will overthrow the Iranian regime. I have many, many Iranian friends. I respect their desire to see their country overthrow this tyranny, this theocracy. My worry is it can’t be done that easily. My worry is that the regime, which is invested in the lower middle class, this regime which has the Basij with millions of volunteers. They are vigilantes. The regime, which is anchored in the revolutionary guard, which is the most radical element in Iranian society. And a regimen which is “petrocracy.” It’s a term for a regime which has lots of oil money. With this oil money the supreme leader can violate and defile the laws of gravity in Iran and he can actually keep his regime going. It won’t be easy to see the end of this regime in Iran.
Dr. Ajami offers a much needed and very sober assessment of the many hurdles that face the opposition in Iran.
