Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Ali Alfoneh علی آلفونه Profile picture
Ali Alfoneh علی آلفونه
@Alfoneh
Author of "Iran Unveiled" (2013) & "Political Succession in the Islamic Republic of Iran" (2020): #Iran, #Civilmilitaryrelations, #IRGC, #QF, in 🇺🇸Persian🇩🇰
Jun 16 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
1. "Netanyahu's war on Iran is perilous on so many levels" @TheNationalNews (Abu Dhabi) June 16, 2025. tinyurl.com/2dmwjjxz 2. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a high-stakes military campaign against Iran – an initiative that not only undermines US President Donald Trump’s stated objective of negotiating a diplomatic resolution to Iran’s nuclear programme, but also risks entangling the Americans in another protracted conflict in the Middle East.
May 29, 2024 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
1. Dr. @JZarif's "Reflections on Eight Years as Foreign Minister" (2024) is one of the most, if not the most important, contribution to understanding Iran's foreign policy under the Islamic Republic. Here a few remarkable points: Image 2. Under President @HassanRouhani "many vital decisions were made by a small group in the secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council [SNSC] without the Foreign Minister, an official member of the SNSC, being privy to them."
Dec 4, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
1. On the Morality Police: For the Islamic Republic, survival trumps ideology. The legislators don't have the courage to change the hijab law, but the regime has for some time stopped enforcing it due to the extraordinary friction it causes between state and society. 2. On the Morality Police: The IRGC and its political allies soon identified the Morality Police as the cause of the ongoing protests, and called for its dismantling. This, I believe, was the first public attempt of the IRGC to distance itself from the unpopular Shia clergy.
Dec 4, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
1. @bbcpersian's release of a @FarsNews_Agency bulletin, most likely produced for IRGC, is receiving delayed commentary. My comment: While the Shah only received sanitized intelligence reports from SAVAK, IRGC has access to excellent intelligence today. bbc.in/3iBRsBg 2. The Pahlavi regime was a personalist dictatorship, centered around the person of Shah Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi. The Islamic Republic, on the other hand, is a highly institutionalized regime with competing centers of power. Failure of one center does not result in regime collapse.
Oct 27, 2022 • 11 tweets • 6 min read
"En Iran, le pouvoir des gardiens de la révolution transforme progressivement le pays en une dictature militaire" Yours truly extensively quoted in @madjze & @GhazalGolshiri's piece in @lemondefr (Paris) October 27, 2022. bit.ly/3Fh1AZH (1) My comments to @lemondefr: Ayatollah @khamenei_ir believes the Pahlavi regime collapsed when the Shah gave concessions to the protesters in 1979. This is why Khamenei, and the regime, rather than giving concessions to protesters, will suppress the protests.
Oct 21, 2022 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
(1) Yours truly debating @barbaraslavin1 & @AlexVatanka at @MidEastPolicy's Iran conference earlier today Oct 21st: In the course of the past 44 years, the Islamic Republic modernized the Iranian society, but was unwilling or incapable of adapting its politics to societal change. (2) According to the World Bank & IRI: Literacy rate in 1978: 50% - in 2022: 90%. Adult Female literacy rate in 1976: 24% - in 2016: 81%. Adult Female Tertiary School Enrollment in 1978%: 3% - in 2020: 57%. Percentage of female enrollment in universities in 2022: 60%!