2021-02-16 at 13:03:25
Rasha Fuad M. Awale from Debrecen University
will present HOW THE “GREAT SATAN” EMPOWERED THE MULLAHS: WEAPONIZING ANTI-AMERICANISM AND FORTIFYING IRAN’S DOMESTIC FRONT
Abstract
This paper posits that the legacy of American intervention in Iran (military involvement, toppling Iran’s first democratic experience in 1953, and empowering the shah’s regime) is the main source of Iranian resentment toward the United States. More specifically, it claims that anti-American rhetoric was used strategically in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 to mobilize the masses, alienate moderates, persecute opposition, and justify Iran’s indulgence in regional affairs. In the wake of the United States’ assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, the second most powerful man in Iran in 2020, Iranian authorities have yet again implemented anti-American discourse to mobilize Iranians against the United States, justify the regime’s atrocities, and divert public opinion from the economic crisis. Anti-Americanism thus became a tool to empower and enable the anti-democratic policies of the regime in Teheran.
Keywords: Anti-Americanism, Iran, Islamic revolution, Middle East, U.S. foreign policy.

In section
Cultural Studies