Iran’s regime often invokes anti-imperialist rhetoric

—positioning itself against Western powers and Israel

—to legitimize its rule and deflect global criticism,

while simultaneously deploying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to suppress ethnic minorities

like Kurds and Baluch through executions, discrimination, and underdevelopment.socialistproject+2

Rhetoric vs. Practice

This anti-imperialist posture, often amplified via IRGC-controlled media like Fars and Tasnim, portrays the regime as a bulwark against foreign dominance,

yet it enforces internal “colonialism” via systematic repression of non-Persian, non-Shia groups,

including hundreds of annual executions targeting Kurds, Arabs, and Baloch.

Critics highlight the hypocrisy.

The regime’s “progressive” Global South stance masks theocratic control. It also involves minority marginalization, such as securitizing Kurdistan and engaging in cultural linguicide.

journals.sagepub+2

Key Examples

• Kurds: Militarization, forced confessions on IRIB, and paramilitary jash forces divide communities while rhetoric frames dissent as imperialist-backed separatism.[journals.sagepub]​
• Baluch: Ethnic discrimination, resource plundering in Balochistan, and brutal crackdowns, justified under anti-Western pretexts.[ohchr]​

This duality sustains power amid protests, like the 2025–2026 uprisings, by simulating external threats to obscure domestic oppression.wikipedia+1

Diving deeply:

Iran’s state TV airs several ‘forced confessions’ after protest crackdown, activists say( France 24 report)