TEHRAN - In chapter 4 of the ‘Mirage of Shadows’ the author explicated Western and Israeli attempts at portraying the Iranian government as being on the verge of downfall and collapse.

For that, Mehdi Mohammadi pointed out how Western media outlets had been trying to give Iranians the impression that Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was grappling with infirm health and that security forces had become extremely feeble without his guidance. 

Mohammadi then explains what Israel and the West tried to do outside the Iranian borders to further embolden rioters by making them believe that the Islamic Republic was nearing its end. 

In 2022, Israel pursued an unprecedented strategy of mobilizing Iranians living abroad to protest against the Islamic Republic. It is estimated that around 2 million Iranians reside outside the country, with a significant portion located in Western nations.

Data indicates that fewer than 5% of Iranians based in the West participated in the anti-Iran demonstrations. Approximately 15,000 individuals joined rallies in Paris, 80,000 gathered in Berlin, and around 3,000 voiced dissent against the Islamic Republic in Brussels. 4,000 people also took to the streets in Toronto. Reports and visual evidence from these events suggested that Western governments played a substantial role in organizing these protests, offering logistical support such as transportation, food, water, and seating arrangements to facilitate the attendees' participation.

From the outset, these protests among the Western-based Iranian population were not anticipated to significantly impact the internal dynamics within Iran. They were unlikely to result in the downfall of the Islamic Republic or influence leaders within Iran. However, they did serve as a source of encouragement for rioters, instilling in them the belief that their extreme levels of violence would yield a favorable outcome. For these individuals, it might have appeared as though the Islamic Republic was already heading toward collapse, as shown by the behavior of Iranians residing outside the country moving beyond the current government.

Israel also got to use the protests to impact Western officials’ policies towards Iran. The regime argued that any meaningful contact with the Islamic Republic could send the Western-based Iranian public into a furor. It eventually got the West to halt its talks with Tehran on the 2015 Iran deal. 

Outside the Iranian borders, the so-called opposition groups and anti-Iranian terror outfits also began to gain renewed significance. The masterminds of the riots believed that in order to keep the unrest alive, Iranians needed to believe that there was in fact an alternative to the Islamic Republic. People who had already been bombarded by reports of the Iranian Leader’s deteriorating health were now being urged to consider a rebranded group of oppositionists as the future leaders of Iran. 

To rebrand the oppositionists and tout them as the ultimate pioneers in Iran’s upcoming political system, Israel and the West went to great lengths to gather different figures all in one place. Groups that had a history of bloody disputes between them now needed to sit side by side and speak of a “shared prosperous future” for all Iranians. Israel urged the factions to put their disagreements aside and do everything in their power to portray a cohesive front against the Islamic Republic. 

The unification and rebranding of opposition groups and terror entities are regarded as the most important part of plans aimed at overthrowing the Iranian government. However, fissures and chasms between different factions soon began to deepen, and opposing figures proceeded to air their dirty laundry publicly. 

It is thought that the attempt to unite oppositionists failed miserably due to the hasty and insufficient planning of Israel. The regime was so desperate to make use of a “prime” chance to bring Iran to its knees, that it did not take the right amount of time to reconcile different anti-Iran entities. 

Meanwhile, Western-based media outlets and TV stations continued to encourage rioters inside the country to intensify their use of violence. Individuals who had managed to hurt or kill security forces were lionized on live television and the vandalism of public property was touted as “honorable sabotage.”

To be continued…