{"id":347697,"date":"2026-09-02T20:24:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=347697"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:24:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:24:32","slug":"from-chalabi-to-pahlavi-how-tehran-manufactures-distraction-to-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/fake-opposition\/from-chalabi-to-pahlavi-how-tehran-manufactures-distraction-to-survive\/","title":{"rendered":"From Chalabi to Pahlavi: How Tehran Manufactures Distraction to Survive"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A city in Iran after being bombed by the US Air Force<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

On August 29, 2026, Tehran conducted two campaigns simultaneously.<\/p>\n

The first was for public consumption. The Revolutionary Guards announced that they have \u201cfull control\u201d of the Strait of Hormuz. State television broadcasts Bellicose speeches. Officials insist that the country is standing firm, that Washington has failed, that the ruling establishment remains cohesive and that Iran\u2019s enemies have once again underestimated the endurance of the revolution.<\/p>\n

The second campaign was harder to disguise. Masoud Pezeshkian, the regime\u2019s president, said<\/a> that Iran\u2019s exports and imports have fallen by nearly thirty-five per cent under sanction and the naval blockade. Inflation is running at sixty-six per cent. The blockade is constricting access to foreign currency and commerce. The country\u2019s supreme leader, gravely injured months ago and still unseen in public, is issuing written instructions that the government must confront inflation, unemployment and the cost of living.<\/p>\n

More revealing is what the security establishment is saying about the streets.<\/h3>\n

Iran\u2019s national police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, warned this week that the \u201cenemy is seeking to create unrest\u201d over livelihoods, gasoline, unemployment and the economy, and instructed police to identify people encouraging protests online. Hossein Taeb, the former chief of Revolutionary Guard intelligence, has been returned to command of the Basij, the organization designed to put bodies, motorcycles, informants and guns into Iranian neighborhoods when demonstrations begin. The appointment comes amid what the Financial Times<\/em> describes as heightened concern about another uprising; the regime’s Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei warned<\/a> on August 31 that the state going to crush dissent, should protests reemerge.<\/p>\n

A dictatorship that feels secure does not reorganize its domestic militia around a former intelligence chief while its police commander talks openly about nationwide unrest.<\/p>\n

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#IRGC<\/a> Intelligence Warns of \u201cDissatisfaction in the Streets\u201d as Fuel Anxiety Riseshttps:\/\/t.co\/Dq8ltUiUUH<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) August 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n