{"id":339995,"date":"2025-12-01T17:43:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=339995"},"modified":"2025-12-01T17:43:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:43:29","slug":"iranian-regimes-crisis-deepens-as-infighting-overshadows-governance-failures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iranian-regimes-crisis-deepens-as-infighting-overshadows-governance-failures\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian Regime\u2019s Crisis Deepens as Infighting Overshadows Governance Failures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif clashes with hardline MP Hamid Rasaee during a heated debate in Iran\u2019s parliament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

Iran\u2019s overlapping political, economic, and social crises entered a new phase this week as senior officials traded accusations, lawmakers warned of societal \u201ccollapse,\u201d and even state media exposed widening fissures inside the ruling elite. From a bribery scandal in the Health Ministry to open revolt among clerics over official propaganda, the picture that emerged was not one of a regime managing national emergencies, but one struggling to manage itself.<\/p>\n

Rouhani Reappears\u2014and Reignites Old Battles<\/h2>\n

Former president Hassan Rouhani\u2019s unusually blunt remarks at a private gathering of former ministers set off the latest round of recriminations. Five months after Iran\u2019s 12-day war with Israel, Rouhani said the country remained stuck in a state of \u201cneither war nor peace<\/a>,\u201d and\u2014more damningly\u2014that \u201ca sense of security does not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued that the conflict might have been avoided entirely had Iran restored the JCPOA in early 2021: \u201cIf we had returned to the nuclear deal in early 2021, the 12-day war would not have happened\u2026 the snapback would have had no meaning.\u201d He added that both his own final months and the first two years of the 13th government squandered opportunities for deterrence, leaving the country exposed.<\/p>\n

Rouhani\u2019s critique triggered an immediate backlash in the press and in parliament. One MP\u2014who only weeks earlier had suggested Rouhani deserved execution<\/a>\u2014again labeled him \u201cliar,\u201d insisting his government\u2019s failures on sanctions, banking, and the pandemic remained \u201ccrimes without consequence.\u201d State-aligned dailies accused him of \u201cmanufacturing polarization\u201d and recycling \u201cthe model favored by the West.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the ferocity of the attacks reflected something deeper: Rouhani had directly contradicted Khamenei\u2019s narrative<\/a> that the 12-day war demonstrated Iran\u2019s strength, exposing a leadership not only divided over responsibility for the crisis but unable to agree on the story it tells its own public.<\/p>\n

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A System That Can No Longer Close Its Rankshttps:\/\/t.co\/HLZzsWenvs<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) November 4, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n