How the Islamic Republic colonised Iran

Protests against the regime are the beginnings of a national independence movement.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s leader, Ebrahim Raisi, speaking in front of the UN General Assembly. Photo by Iranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The Iranian president’s Koranic sermon to the UN General Assembly last week made it clear that the Islamic Republic is an unusual member of the United Nations.

The Islamic Republic does not even claim to be a nation-state. “Islam opposes nationalism and nationhood,” proclaimed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the wake of the Islamic Revolution he led in 1979. “We have no need for people who want to be part of a nation,” he warned his critics. “We need people who are Muslims.”