Fragmented power in Tehran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has long cultivated the image of an ideologically unified and stable regime. Yet beneath this curated facade lies a brittle and fragmented power structure, increasingly marked by infighting, declining legitimacy, and a deepening disconnect with the Iranian people. According to Dr. Mehdi Motaharnia, a leading political scientist and futurist at Tehran University, the Islamic Republic has entered a critical phase of systemic erosion—one that mirrors, in key ways, the Soviet Union’s final years.