Iran’s regime frequently invokes anti-imperialist rhetoric — positioning itself against Western powers and Israel — to legitimize its rule and deflect global criticism. Yet this posture exists alongside the systematic deployment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to suppress ethnic minorities, including Kurds and Baluch, through executions, discrimination, and deliberate underdevelopment.

Rhetoric vs. Practice

The regime’s anti-imperialist stance, amplified through IRGC-controlled outlets such as Fars News and Tasnim, portrays itself as a bulwark against foreign dominance. In practice, it enforces a form of internal colonialism: hundreds of annual executions targeting Kurds, Arabs, and Baloch; the securitization of minority regions; and what critics have described as cultural linguicide against non-Persian communities.

The contradiction is stark. The regime’s self-styled “progressive” Global South identity masks theocratic control and the systematic marginalization of non-Persian, non-Shia populations.

Key Examples

Kurds face ongoing militarization, forced confessions broadcast on state television, and paramilitary jash forces used to divide communities from within. Any dissent is framed, through regime media, as imperialist-backed separatism.

Baluch communities endure ethnic discrimination, resource extraction from Balochistan, and brutal crackdowns rationalized under the same anti-Western pretexts. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has documented patterns of disproportionate execution rates and systemic neglect in Baloch regions.

The Function of the Duality

This contradiction is not a failure of the regime’s messaging — it is the mechanism. By simulating an external threat, the regime generates a hyperreal enemy that justifies domestic repression. During the 2025–2026 uprisings, the same logic was on display: protests were reframed as foreign-orchestrated destabilization, obscuring legitimate grievances rooted in economic despair and political exclusion.

Iran’s state television aired several forced confessions following the protest crackdowns — a practice documented by France 24 and human rights organizations — that exemplify how the machinery of simulation operates in real time.