Reza Behrouz

In early July, following a so-called popular election in Iran, Masoud Peseshkian, a relatively unknown physician-turned-politician who was branded as a “reformist,” was seated as the president of the Islamic Republic regime. The campaign that propelled Pezeshkian to that position was marred in controversy and dubiety. It was largely a product of social media astroturfing vigorously spearheaded by the regime’s infamous former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the former Minister of Communications, Mohmmad Javad Azari Jahromi. 

The frenzied campaign was so contrived and inorganic, it became a laughing stock for Iranians on social media. It banked on an overtly populist rhetoric that seemed amateurishly disingenuous to the Iranian people. The regime’s sources and media claimed that participation rate in the runoff election was 49.8%. This figure is largely refuted by eyewitness testimony and video clips of voting precincts throughout Iran that were posted on social media by ordinary citizens, clearly showing dismal turnout. 

Reuters reported that the recent “election” in Iran was entirely engineered by the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khemenei in order to preserve the regime amid domestic dissent and heightened tensions with the West. The decision to carry out this scheme was made by Khamenei after he was told by intelligence officials that most Iranians planned to boycott the vote and that the turnout would only be about 13%. 

Once Pezeshkian won the presidential seat, he thanked Khamenei and said that if it were not for the Supreme Leader’s help, his name would not have easily come out of ballot boxes. Reformist analyst Saeed Laylaz admitted that “It was a flawless plan by the supreme leader… which guaranteed the survival of the Islamic Republic.”

The current electoral atmosphere in the United States is reminiscent of the regime-engineered elections in Iran. 

Joe Biden’s fragile physical and decrepit mental conditions were apparent from the very start. As a neurologist, I was perplexed by how he could take on the grueling task of the leader of the free world. And yet, it seemed that the administration and the media were in absolute denial, or were conditioned to conceal the obvious. Only when it became undeniably clear that his chances against Donald Trump were tenuous, the higher echelons of power in the Democratic Party, much like Khamenei and his circle, made the decision to oust Biden and swiftly replace him with Kamala Harris as the Democrats’ 2024 presidential candidate. This nomination, or “coronation” as some call it, was carried out in the most undemocratic fashion, with Harris completely bypassing the Democratic primaries and garnering zero votes from the electorate.

On equal footing with the prelude to the recent elections in Iran, we are now witnessing a gathering mainstream and social media storm that is meant to unleash an overwhelming volume of gaslighting and obfuscation with respect to Harris’ record. Effort is being made to distance Harris from the Biden administration’s failures, which is analogous to how Zarif tried to portray Pezeshkian as someone who would “fix” the disasters caused by the Ebrahim Raisi government. 

In reality, Harris is an inextricable part of the Biden administration and its inherent failures, as much as Pezeshkian, just like Raisi, is an ornamental figure subservient to Khamenei and his totalitarian regime. Pezeshkian is, and Harris will be, if elected, marionette presidents of the establishment.