Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

To grasp the Iranian government’s poverty policies and to comprehend the soaring poverty in the country, it is essential to view poverty as a regime security objective. By conducting a critical analysis on 333 texts issued by the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, during 1989-2015, Khamenei’s poverty discourse has been studied through investigating how he defines, describes and frames poverty. The research illuminates Khamenei’s acknowledgement of poverty as a regime security concern, declaring the poor as the regime’s soldiers and wealthier people as unreliable. Khamenei’s poverty discourse encourages policies that force people towards a poverty threshold outlined by him, a line that guarantees basic needs for survival but neglects education and other matters that are significant for human development. Close similarities between how Khamenei defines poverty and how the government determines the official poverty line can also be
found in this research.

الكتاب في الأصل إجابات آية الله منتظري على أسئلة تستهدف تقديم روايته لعدد من الأحداث والقضايا، وتكشف بسطورها وما بينها عن خلاصة تجربته في الثورة والحكم والمعارضة، وتلتقي جميعها عند "ولاية الفقيه" كنموذج وتجربة حكم في إيران. هذه الورقة تعيد قراءة تجربة ولاية الفقيه كما قدَّمها أحد أبرز صانعيها، آية الله منتظري، وفي حدود الكتاب، وإن كانت تتجاوزه أحيانًا في التحليل وتتبع الدلالات في محاولة لملامسة الواقع الراهن واستِكْناه المستقبل والمآلات التي تنتظر ولاية الفقيه.

What is Ayatollah Khamenei's strategic thinking, and how does it shape and influence Iran's foreign policy, military and national security strategy? This article studies the theoretical and conceptual dimensions of Ayatollah Khamenei's foreign policy and strategic thinking, including his aims and principles, approaches, behaviors, decisions, and incentives, as the Islamic Republic of Iran's commander-in-chief of armed forces. The authors strive to explain how the political and military doctrine of Iran's Supreme Leader is designed to increase the country's relative security. They argue that Iran's leader tries to neutralize challenges caused by new changes that have occurred in Iran's immediate security sphere through activating patterns related to active deterrence. Thus, for him, sufficient military power can only be obtained by maximizing security. This way of thinking can best be explained by defensive realism theory. In this context, four dimensions of this theory i.e., balance of power, balance of threat, interconnected security, and offense-defense approach are discussed in the thoughts of Iran's leader. The authors also hold that the ethical aspect of Ayatollah Khamenei's strategic thinking, based on the principles of Islamic international relations, gives realism in the Middle East a critical approach.

Keywords: Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s National Security, Defensive Realism, Relative Security, Balance of Power, Offense-Defense Approach

در این مقاله به بررسی میل و عشق در اشعار شماری از شاعران انتخابشدۀ زن
میپردازیم که اشعارشان را در حضور رهبر جمهوری اسالمی ایران قرائت کردهاند.
سابقۀ ادبی و زمینۀ سیاسی این رویدادهای ادبیــ      ِ سیاسی ساالنه پیش از این بررسی
2 پژوهش حاضر مطالعهای قومنگارانه دربارۀ این دسته از شاعران زن
شده است.
نیست، بلکه در پی بررسی محتوای اروتیک برخی از اشعار قرائتشده در فضای
شدیداً کنترلشدۀ این شبهای شعرخوانی است. هدف من تأکید بر الگوی کنشگری ”همنواگرانهای“ است که تحت ساختارهای پیچیدهای از قدرت و فرمانبرداری جوانه
میزند. با بهره گرفتن از میل در صورتبندی روانکاوانۀ آن به مثابه ابزاری تحلیلی
چنین استدالل خواهم کرد که اهمیت این شعرخوانیها از بهرهبرداریهای رژیم از
آنها برای برنامههای مشروعیتبخشی به خویش فراتر میرود: به صحنه آوردن میل
در این اشعار همگانیشده مسیرهایی گفتمانی را به سوی لذت و خالقیت و اشکالی از
ً
کنشگری مغفولمانده میگشاید. پروژههای فمینیستی کنشگری رهاییبخش عمدتا
کردارهایی مقاومتی را به رسمیت میشناسند که هنجارهای اجتماعیـ  فرهنگی
و تسلط مردانه را به مبارزه میطلبند، بهویژه در کشورهایی که اکثریت جمعیت
مسلماناند. برای نمونه، در زمینۀ مردساالرانۀ ادبیات و فرهنگ فارسی، فقط
نویسندگان زنی که آثارشان نشاندهندۀ مقاومت در برابر سوءاستفادۀ جنسیتی و
3 فروتر از آن، هرگونه
تالش برای ”خودآزادسازی“ باشد به رسمیت شناخته میشوند.
کردار شناختپذیر مبارزهطلبانهای که در قالب همان چیزی بگنجد که جودیت باتلر
4 یا مغفول میماند یا به
از آن با عنوان ”الگوی کنشگری رهاییبخش“ یاد میکند،
منزلۀ آگاهی کاذب و امری برای تثبیت مجدد سرکوب زنان کنار گذاشته میشود.
برای مقابله با این رویه، بر یکی از نمونههای بارز آن متمرکز خواهم شد؛ خاطرات آذر
نفیسی که در سال 2003 منتشر شده است: لولیتاخوانی در تهران: خاطرهنوشتی
دربارۀ کتابها که خود برداشتی مدرن از رمان لولیتا، اثر رماننویس امریکایی
روستبار، والدیمیر ناباکوف، است که در 1955 منتشر شده است. با بحثی دربارۀ
الگوی کنشگریای آغاز خواهم کرد که در لولیتاخوانی پیش نهاده شده است و
سپس آن را درون زمینۀ گستردهتر سیاسی، ادبی و فرهنگ مردمپسند زمینهمند
‌‌خواهم ساخت؛ جایی که در آن قدرت و میل تالقی میکنند. نیاز به گفتن نیست که
رویداد ساالنۀ شبهای شعرخوانی زنان شاعر البته مرتبط با عصیان نیست. هدف این
مراسم آن نیست که مشارکتکنندگان را از هژمونی ایدئولوژی مسلط آزاد سازد. در
حقیقت، از طرز لباس پوشیدن و حرکات و اشارات گرفته تا تمجید از رهبر با استفاده
از سنتهای قراردادی شعر فارسی، همگی نشان می ً دهند که این رویداد کامال با

The foundations of The International System portion and its convergence and divergence in Interactionism discourse against the Dominating System

مبانی تقسیم بندی نظام بین الملل و هم‌گرایی ها و واگرایی های آن در گفتمان تعامل گرایی ضدنظام سلطه

Abstract:
Imam Khomeini's foreign policy discourse, in spite of having confident strategic and diplomatic bases, is commonly ideological and creed-related. The Revolutional Islam forms his discourse center. The foreign policy discourse of the Islamic Revolution founder is based on ridging between the self and the other. In this othering logic, the International System is divided in two domains of the suppressor and the suppressed. From the writers' viewpoint, Ayatollah Khamenei's foreign policy discourse is the logical continuation of Imam Khomeini's discourse in an evolutional atmosphere. The special internal, regional and International conditions and the personal traits of Ayatollah Khamenei have moved him towards forming a more pragmatic reading in the framework of interactionism discourse against the Dominating System. The extract of Iran's post-revolutionary foreign policy and the three notions of Revolutionary Islam, National security and National interests in it, are articulated besides each other in differing proportions. In this logic, the two blocs of the dominator and the dominated are placed in front of each other and the identity-other, difference-logic- equivalence chain make the international system meaningful. This article after scheming the interactionism discourse against the dominating system makes the bases of the world division and its divergences and convergences prominent by surveying the two concepts of Identity and otherness and chain of equivalence and the difference logic.

Key words:
Identity and otherness, Difference Logic, Chain of equivalence, The foreign policy of The I.R. of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei.

In the final days of 2017, a wave of protests erupted in Iran, bringing to surface a host of economic, social, and political resentments. Despite the profusion of slogans and demands, the initial trigger is widely believed to have been economic. This article aims to contextualize Iran’s protests by examining the changing dynamics between the state and the poor in the four decades since the country’s 1979 revolution. A case is made that while in the first decade after the revolution the poor became the primary social base of the post-revolutionary state, the (neo-liberal) shift in economic policies since the early 1990s has cultivated new dynamics in which the lower economic strata are increasingly disenchanted with and disenfranchised from the state.

This article explains the role that Iranian Supreme Leaders [vali-ye faqihs] have played in developing policies and regulations to supervise book publishing in Iran since 1979 (the Islamic Revolution). I have studied all the laws, bylaws and other regulations related to book publishing (1979-2021) to describe Leaders opinions on culture and freedom of expression, their decrees and fatwas related to book publishing, their role in defining the cultural policy of the country and establishing the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (the SCCR), the organization that passes most of the regulations concerning supervision of cultural activities including the activities of publishers, print houses and other related centers as well as the contents of books. This article shows how the legal system of Iran, with the authority of Vail-ye Faqihs, during the last four decades, has been gradually elaborated to a significant extent and has been quite efficient in defining and enforcing cultural policy and regulations and taking control of cultural activities including contents of books.

With the Islamic State on the brink of total defeat in Syria, the principal geopolitical actors (Russia, Iran) and other regional stakeholders (Saudi Arabia and Israel) are poised to adapt their regional security strategies to the unfolding realities in the post-IS Syria. This article (written in Farsi for the BBC Persian) focuses on the recent meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to asses the future geopolitical ambitions of these important players. It posits that Iran would potentially face Russia's disapproval of the growing expansion of Hezbollah in Syria primarily because a) it would damage the Astana peace process and b) provoke Israel into taking dangerous military measures inside Syria.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior nuclear scientist of the Islamic Republic, the father of Iran’s atomic bomb, and, according to Foreign Policy, one of the world’s 500 most powerful people, was recently assassinated in an armed attack on the outskirts of Tehran. After his assassination, Iranian and international media reported that Fakhrizadeh was one of the high-ranking commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and a prominent professor and researcher at Imam Hussein University. Thus, Fakhrizadeh’s assassination intensified speculation about Imam Hussein University, raising questions such as: What is the focus of the university? What activities does it undertake? What kind of research does it perform? In this article I will try to answer these questions.

ولادیمیر پوتین، رئیس‌جمهوری مادام‌العمر روسیه، علاقه خاصی به ارائه تصویر «تاف گای» (tough guy) یا «بزن‌بهادر» از خودش دارد. مثلا در زمستان منجمدکنندهٔ مسکو در فضای باز غسل مذهبی می‌کند، اسب‌سواری می‌کند و به شکار خرس می‌رود، و رزمی‌‌کار هم هست و کمربند مشکی جودو و تکواندو دارد. گفته می‌شود بسیاری از میم‌های اینترنتی درباره پوتین که وی را در حال کارهای خارق‌العاده نشان می‌دهد را دستگاه امنیتی روسیه با تایید خودش ساخته است.

Telah lama publik di Indonesia menyaksikan pemberitaan internasional tentang perseteruan sengit antara Amerika Serikat, Negara Adidaya, melawan negeri para mullah yang kesohor dengan proyek pengembangan nuklirnya, Iran. Adu narasi dari kedua negara ataupun opini-opini yang mendukung masing-masing pihak ialah hal lumrah sejak beberapa dekade.Berakhirnya tahun 2019 lalu telah menandai bahwa telah lewat empat dasawarsa / 40 tahun ketegangan antara Amerika Serikat “Sang Adidaya” dengan Iran “Sang Penantang.” Apakah kematian Soleimani akan menjadi penanda baru bagi pertikaian kedua negara dengan pola yang lebih terang-terangan dengan kontak senjata langsung, yang kemudian melibatkan sejumlah negara sekutu masing-masing dan menjerumuskan dunia pada jilid ketiga perang dunia (seperti yang dikhawatirkan) ?

سخنان آیت‌الله خامنه‌ای در دیدار با فرماندهان سپاه صریح و شفاف بود. او تاکید کرد که نظریه «تبدیل انقلاب به جمهوری اسلامی» ناممکن است چرا که دومی باید مظهر و استمرار اولی باشد. این جدال با آغاز شکل‌گیری نظام کنونی زاده شد و خواست جدی غالب نیروهای سیاسی در آنزمان برآمدن یک «دولت انقلابی» بود. مهدی بازرگان نخستین نمونه دولتمردی بود که انتظار داشت با شکل‌گیری قانون اساسی و تعیین ساز و کار امور، بساط رفتارهای انقلابی برچیده شود. برخلاف توقع او، تندترین تحرک انقلابی درست در زمانی رخ داد که او مسئول قانونی کشور بود؛ دانشجویان پیرو خط امام با اشغال سفارت آمریکا و بحران گروگان‌گیری «انقلاب دوم» را رقم زدند و کابینه‌ او را زمین‌گیر کردند.

The present article seeks to analyze the discourse-political foundations of Donald Trump's remarks about the JCPOA and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's reaction to his remarks. The critical discourse analysis approach prioritizes the relationship between politics, language, society, power, ideology, and discourse. The research method of this article is descriptive-analytical and based on the Fairclough model. We examine Trump and Khamenei's statement. The findings of this article show that there is an interrelationship between ideology and language and between the use of language and political and social relations and language. In addition, the formability of political relations, can be a useful tool in shaping power relations and political interactions; Therefore, each country's leaders have tried to use their linguistic and political abilities to express their views. The results show that both leaders in their speeches see the JCPOA as a fragile and flawed agreement between two enemies and not a contract to strengthen the friendship between them.

From Ayatollah Khomeini to Ayatollah Khamenei, this book illuminates the governmental structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the various governmental directorates, how officials are placed into power and removed, and the matrix of Islamic Theocratic Totalitarian state of Tehran.
"Theocratic Totalitarianism is a view of the world that one’s faith must reign supreme and can be affirmed and held passionately only if all others are negated. It advocates the use of force, violence, or terrorism, because these actions are just a tool – when they believe they are righteous, sacred and all others are wrong. For all of their actions are the divine will of God.
Khomeini shaped his rise to power while in exile from Iran. He carefully created a facade of his true intentions, rarely putting them on public display.  The Islamic Republic of Iran is a revolutionary theocratic totalitarian state formed in 1979 following the overthrow of the last Shah (monarch), Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was the leader of the revolution and then of the Islamic Republic until his death in 1989. It was Ayatollah Khomeini who created the Islamic theology of suicide bombing which has engulfed the world. Iran at one time was one of America’s strongest allies in the Middle East. Tehran was held in high esteem, and maintained friendly relations throughout the region, including Israel. Under the Shah, Iran was the first Muslim Nation to recognize the State of Israel. The Rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran is an account of how one man—Ayatollah Khomeini—changed the face of the Nation of Iran. This is an exploration of the ascent of Khomeini, who refashioned the state of Iran with his radical religious ideology, into a leader of international terrorism.

Peace and harmonious coexistence between nations and governments is a necessity which is undeniable. Peace is a necessity in order to preserve human survival and it is in line and in accordance with Islamic teachings. The intrinsic value of the notion of peace in Ayatollah Khamenei's intellectual system of thought is better understood when it leads to justice, security, preservation of human dignity and morality. The issue of this present study is to discuss and scrutinize the characteristics of peace in Ayatollah Khamenei's intellectual system of thought that lead to peace which is essentially just and fair? The article claims that peace and peaceful coexistence are essential to Ayatollah Khamenei's political thought and its basis and intellectual foundation is deeply rooted in Islamic teachings. Ayatollah Khamenei’s notion of peace focuses on components such as structural peace, justice and tactics such as the notion of "heroic softness". In this article by using the method of content analysis an endeavor has been made to deal with the concept of peace that lead to a just peace.

ظم امنیتی در منطقه خاورمیانه از سال 2011 به این سو دچار تغییراتی ساختاری شده است چراکه قدرتهای فرامنطقه ای به شدت در منطقه نفوذ دارند و همچنین رقابتهای ژئوپولیتیکی میان قدرتهای منطقه ای نیز تعمیق شده است. علاوه بر پیچیدگی بیشتر معمای امنیتی، منطقه خاورمیانه وارد دوره جدیدی از تغییرات موازنه قدرت و ابهامات اساسی شده است. بررسی آخرین تحولات منطقه نشان می دهد که منطقه دچار مداخلات نظامی توسط قدرتهایی مانند روسیه، ترکیه، ایران و آمریکا و در سطح کمتری عربستان، قطر و اسرائیل شده است. با توجه به روی کار آمدن دونالد ترامپ و راهبرد اصلی (اول آمریکا)ی او، این تحولات پیچیده تر هم شده است، به ویژه اینکه دولت آمریکا قصد دارد حضور خود را در خاورمیانه کمتر هم بکند. در همین حال، روابط ایران و آمریکا هم به سمت وخامت می رود و میان تنشهای نظامی غیرمستقیم و گاهی تنش زدایی استراتژیک به سر می برد. دولت ترامپ با مقصر دانستن و سرزنش کردن سیاست مماشات دولت اوباما، به وعده انتخاباتی اش عمل کرد و با خروج از برجام تمام تحریمهای پیش از توافق میان ایران و گروه پنج به اضافه یک را برگرداند. دولت ترامپ توافق هسته ای را با کارزار فشار حداکثری جایگزین کرد. در یک تغییر جهت بنیادین از رویکرد سنتی دولتهای پیشین آمریکا، سیاست این دولت دیگر فقط به دنبال مهار و انزوای جمهوری اسلامی از طریق استراتژی سد نفوذ منفعل یا مذاکره با لایه ¬های میانه روی جمهوری اسلامی نیست، بلکه می‌ خواهد با اعمال سیاست فشار حداکثری، جمهوری اسلامی را براندازی یا دست کم وادار به تغییر رفتار و استراتژی نماید.

What is Ayatollah Khamenei's strategic thinking, and how does it shape and influence Iran's foreign policy, military and national security strategy? This article studies the theoretical and conceptual dimensions of Ayatollah Khamenei's foreign policy and strategic thinking, including his aims and principles, approaches, behaviors, decisions, and incentives, as the Islamic Republic of Iran's commander-in-chief of armed forces. The authors strive to explain how the political and military doctrine of Iran's Supreme Leader is designed to increase the country's relative security. They maintain that Iran " s leader tries to neutralize challenges caused by new changes that have occurred in Iran's immediate security sphere through activating patterns related to active deterrence. Thus, for him, sufficient military power can only be obtained by maximizing security. This way of thinking can best be explained by defensive realism theory. In this context, four dimensions of this theory i.e., balance of power, balance of threat, interconnected security, and offense-defense approach are discussed in the thoughts of Iran " s leader. The authors also hold that the ethical aspect of Ayatollah Khamenei's strategic thinking, based on the principles of Islamic international relations, gives realism in the Middle East a critical approach.

In the context of the Iran-West nuclear talks, a peculiar issue that is occasionally conjured up by the Islamic Republic officials in order to demonstrate the “peaceful” nature of the I.R. nuclear activities is the so-called “Nuclear Fatwa” by the Islamic Republic’s incumbent Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The election of Ebrahim Raisi will likely herald a change in the style of Iranian politics but not its substance. The consummate insider, more than anything else Raisi’s election signals a continuation of the Islamic Republic’s core ideals. Neither the overall nature of Iranian politics nor the policy objectives of the Islamic Republic are likely to change in the near future. Moreover, Raisi’s election portends a strengthening of Khamenei’s legacy for Iran. The new president comes to office amid a wave of voter apathy and general disenchantment with the political system. Unless conditions improve, especially in the economy and in Iran’s foreign relations, Raisi, and Khamenei along with him, will find himself governing over a population that is not just detached from the political process but in fact resents, and could perhaps even resist, those in power.

Presidential elections will be held in the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 18. Some commentators describe the elections as a "democracy-like" process based on political parties and the vote of the people. This view has nothing to do with reality. The Islamic regime is a totalitarian one-party system that conducts carefully managed elections for propaganda purposes. The popular vote is of no interest to the regime and has no impact on the outcome of Iran's so-called elections.

The West assumes that if the Islamist regime of Iran is granted some leeway, then it will stop its aggression towards other nations. But the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ leap for absolute power in Iran and its belligerent empire-building in the Middle East show otherwise.

This article seeks to delve into the significance of Assad's visit to Iran and explain the potential implications of his meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the future of Iran's Syria strategy. It mainly aims to find answers to the following questions: Is Iran seeking to exercise a certain degree of tactical restraint vs. Israel’s actions in Syria or instead is readying for a major military confrontation with Tel Aviv? How do Turkey and Russia tend to interpret the recent escalation in war of words between Iran and Israel? Are we witnessing a major change in Iran's strategy in Syria?

Iran has been in the forefront of international interest during the last years due to its nuclear program and strategic position for the Middle Eastern affairs. However, Iran’s internal political arena is equally turbulent to its international relations. After the 2009 elections and the crush of the Green Movement a new power struggle has emerged within the Iranian regime. President Ahmadinejad’s attempt to create a loyal elite around him was met with a fierce response from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s side which stripped him off his power, attacked his associates and might even cancel the position of president itself. The outcome of this “internal war” is crucial for both regional and global politics.

Barack Obama is rushing to the United Nations to get the six Security Council resolutions against Iran (2006-2010), four of which contain sanctions provisions, rescinded before Congress reviews the Iran deal. Why? He is rushing to the UN because the July 14 Iran-deal violates those UN resolutions. It allows Tehran to do any number of things that have been expressly forbidden. As the administration proceeds with the Congressional review, the opponents could justifiably argue that the deal was in violation of a whole spate of UN resolutions. This in addition to the IAEA’s failure, since 2003, to certify that Iran has been in compliance with any part of any of them...