{"id":334702,"date":"2025-07-25T07:12:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T06:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=334702"},"modified":"2025-07-25T07:17:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T06:17:42","slug":"khameneis-nationalist-masquerade-a-desperate-bid-for-legitimacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/khameneis-nationalist-masquerade-a-desperate-bid-for-legitimacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Khamenei\u2019s Sudden Masquerade of Nationalism Seeks to Misdirect Iran\u2019s Outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"July
July 5, 2025 \u2013 Tehran: Ali Khamenei tells regime eulogist to sing \u201cEy Iran\u201d during religious Ashura ceremony, later amplified by state media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After twelve days of silence during the 12-day war, Iran regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei finally emerged from hiding. But instead of his usual ideological language, he adopted a strikingly nationalist tone, speaking of the \u201cIranian nation\u201d and \u201cnational dignity.\u201d This sudden shift in rhetoric, amplified by the regime\u2019s promotion of a once-censored patriotic anthem, reveals not a change of heart, but a desperate public relations stunt aimed at salvaging legitimacy amid deepening crises.<\/p>\n

The regime had previously banned the song \u201cEy Iran\u201d<\/em><\/a> as \u201cun-Islamic\u201d and overly nationalistic. Now, it is being sung\u2014distorted and co-opted\u2014by regime-affiliated religious chanters in a grotesque spectacle meant to rebrand a theocratic regime as a national protector. This rebranding, however, is not only unconvincing\u2014it is fundamentally contradictory.<\/p>\n

For over four decades, the Iranian regime has waged a deliberate war against Iranian identity. From the outset of the 1979 revolution, the regime sought to dissolve the very idea of a nation-state. Ruhollah Khomeini, the regime\u2019s founder, explicitly rejected nationalism. In speeches and writings (e.g., Sahifeh-ye Nour<\/em>, vol. 1<\/a>, p. 123; vol. 3, p. 275; speeches on August 6 & 9, 1980), he declared that \u201cnationalism is against Islam\u201d<\/em> and called for the abolition of borders to create a single global \u201cIslamic ummah.\u201d Patriotism, national identity, and historical pride were systematically attacked and dismissed as un-Islamic heresy.<\/p>\n

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#Khamenei<\/a> Breaks Silence in Bid to Shore Up a Fractured Base After 12-Day Warhttps:\/\/t.co\/DB9Rw7kNJn<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n