Allan Kaval: The Iranian people are not a monolithic entity, but it is absolutely certain that the assassination of General Ghassem Soleimani and even more the threats of President Trump, especially on cultural sites to which all Iranians are attached, could only ” fan the nationalist flame.
The Iranian regime does not represent the entire Iranian nation, but it does have a monopoly on the weapons that can be used to defend it. It can thus silence differences within itself and benefit, at least temporarily, from popular support in the face of external aggression.
This is all the more striking since the Iranian regime was the subject of a massive protest movement in November, repressed in blood, in particular by the Revolutionary Guards, the body of General Soleimani. In a sense, American aggressiveness is an unexpected but not necessarily lasting benefit for the Iranian regime, which was still contested on all sides a few months ago.
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