{"id":348414,"date":"2026-09-29T14:29:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T13:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=348414"},"modified":"2026-09-29T14:52:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T13:52:37","slug":"mojtaba-khameneis-fourth-superpower-a-240000-toman-dollar-and-seven-months-in-the-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/mojtaba-khameneis-fourth-superpower-a-240000-toman-dollar-and-seven-months-in-the-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"Mojtaba Khamenei\u2019s \u201cFourth Superpower\u201d: A 240,000-Toman Dollar and Seven Months in the Streets"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Basij-affiliated
Basij-affiliated women ride a flag-draped pickup during the state-orchestrated “Janfada parade” in September 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

On September 28, Mojtaba Khamenei offered an extraordinary description of Iran\u2019s position in the world. \u201cToday some consider us the world\u2019s fourth superpower,\u201d he declared in his official message<\/a> marking the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq War. \u201cOf course, they say this based on worldly calculations; divine calculations regard [Iran] as the world\u2019s first power.\u201d He paired the assertion with another: \u201cMore than 30 million Iranians have declared themselves ready to sacrifice their lives.\u201d Khamenei also boasted that for seven months government supporters had continuously occupied squares and streets across Iran.<\/p>\n

The juxtaposition is difficult to miss. On the same day, Iran\u2019s free-market dollar breached 240,000 tomans<\/a>, reaching 240,220\u2014about 40 percent above the official rate. A parliamentarian, Mostafavi, was meanwhile warning that runaway inflation and currency instability had \u201crobbed millions of families of peace,\u201d calling inflation \u201ca security threat.\u201d The \u201csuperpower\u201d rhetoric therefore reads less like a message intended to persuade foreign strategic planners than one designed to reassure an exhausted domestic political and security base.<\/p>\n

Indeed, state rhetoric says as much. Saeed Hosseini, the Friday Prayer leader in Kashan, told state television on September 27 that Basij members should report \u201cthe smallest movement\u201d to security commanders and described the \u201cJan-Fada\u201d parade as an \u201cantidote\u201d to an enemy strategy of exploiting economic pressure to divide society. A state educational publication<\/a> made the logic even plainer: \u201cIf we leave the squares and streets empty, infiltrators and traitors will use them.\u201d It insisted that continuous occupation of public space had become necessary.<\/p>\n

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"At a time when Mojtaba #Khamenei<\/a> and the upper echelons of Iran\u2019s ruling establishment are urging regime insiders to avoid public feuding, rival factions are doing precisely the opposite," writes @MehdiOghbai<\/a>.https:\/\/t.co\/8mLnu5CPU6<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n