An Obituary for Iran on cards

The war on Iran is very much on the cards, despite the counter narrative and the realities on the ground. That state of mind and the global perspective very much define the headline and catchline of this piece. Today any café, university campus common room, office place or cafeteria around the globe is buzzing with the discussion on when the USA will launch an attack on Iran; how Iran will respond and what would be the next scenario. Here it is worthy to mention that the state and society in Pakistan, despite being conveniently embedded with the unipolar system, is insecure because it might be next in line.

As these lines are read, the war on Iran might have commenced with full force; or there might be the initial attrition rituals taking place between the warring parties. Anyhow, the current scenario brings to mind an undated interview currently being posted on social media. The interview conducted by the western correspondent of the deposed Shah of Iran revolves around the power of what the Shah calls the ‘Jewish lobby’ in the USA. On being pressed, the late Shah lists out capital, banks and media to be the part of the lobby’s empire, abruptly stopping in the interview by saying “that I will stop here”; apparently saving his own skin in the process. However, he underscored the power of the media on opinion-making in a democracy or society like the USA of the mid-1970s.

It remains to be seen how the events unfold, not just in the form of precision strikes; but the level of reaction by Iranians and above all how the world awakes to the aftermath; an obituary for the time being or an attrition of sorts where a war can drag on to weeks. Unlike Venezuela, where it was a precision operation, the Iranian nut might still be hard to crack. The events unfolding as these lines go into print will largely determine which side the region is headed to, in the first place

Given the growing realization of that fact, it might not have been a bolt from blue for the then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto or the Indian strongwoman Indira Gandhi to see through the curtains of protocol around them to look into what was transpiring behind the scenes. They were dislodged successively in 1977; but those deceased personalities must have realized how demons were made out of their persona; for first making a specific perception about them in the target audience and then implementing what was needed by the Pentagon, US administration or the West.

Take a tour straight to Iran, or for that matter Tehran, as to what are the ground realities. A political movement transformed into the government seldom leaves its street fighter mindset and keeps that mindset as a reserve to be used as and when required. Monday, January 12, the regime or its supporters mobilized several decently attended rallies in support of the Nezam. The Tehran rally was attended by the President and the Speaker of the Republic Parliament, with apparently not much of the protocol seen in the case of VIPs in Pakistan. In a society where the public is supposedly frantically waiting for the sight of the USAF and IDF bombers to dislodge the Nezam, the main pillars of that Nezam, were roaming freely on Tehran Vali Asr street. If shown on the world media this could have prompted the viewers the world over; to question the dominant narrative at this point of time. Such disgruntled public as made to believe in the first place is at advantage in such counter-demonstration instances to lynch such regime figures without any hassle if they want to.

However, what is observed is a complete blackout of the counter narrative. Rather one comes across the videos on the pattern of ‘White Helmet’ media cell productions, the NGO active during the Syrian Civil war and which was instrumental in precipitation of Tomahawk strikes in that country in 2013. Here in the case of Iran, one observes that evidence videos are being shot for the duration of 6 to 10 minutes without any interruption by the morgue staff in Kahrizk morgue, near Tehran; which is a bit difficult to comprehend in a society which is projected as a police state and liable to dislodged at the first opportunity.

Consequently, what the world is waiting for is the ‘arrival of US help to the besieged people of that republic’. The scene portrayed by the CNN or BBC, TRT or RT is equivalent to an invitation where any delay can embolden the targeted entity. In other words, the global media seems to be hyperactive on the count that it has even prepared what can be called a ‘one-sided obituary of the Nezam’ in the case of Iran. The demonization of the republic which is not ready for unconditional submission to the unipolar world and wants to chart out its own path on its own terms suits the dominant media on one count that; questioning their domination can cause a domino impact on the other enslaved entities or cultures.

Here it is important to note that the world has always been a place of one or two dominant civilizations and there have been instances where a new narrative has pushed back the old ones, singularly based on effective questioning of the ‘status quo’ and the rewards the societies get in adopting the new narrative.

The evolution of the Marxist state in Russia, the transformation of the Chinese society into a value-added society are because of the challenges the unipolar capitalist world had in the form of counter narratives. That narrative comes down to personal choices and the technology choices; like why an iPhone can be a better digital photography gear than a Chinese Android; it is the cultural domination which comes with the unipolar world and the consequent narrative.

To elaborate further, the two wars during the summer of 2025, also laid bare amongst the developed nations, whose weapon systems were practical. The French-built Rafales of the IAF were routed in the wee hours of May 7, by a completely Chinese strike package of the PAF; on the face of the facts did not only prove the better skills of the Pakistani pilots; it also laid a question mark on the machine manufacturing by the renowned French aviation name, Dassault Breguet. It was no coincidence that the shares of J-10C Manufacturer Chengdu showed improvement in the global stock markets.

Likewise after the initial decapitation of the IRGC leadership, the missile strikes by the IRGC Aerospace and the devastation on ground by these warheads, their striking velocity as well as their ability to evade the Iron Dome were all illustrative of the fact that new narratives do not stand on mere slogans; but can help form infrastructures which can add value and innovate over the available global technology; for example the North Korean warhead motors and turbines for that matter.

The current hyperactivity again is centred around; how a counter narrative is first isolated in the media, the demon created out of its existence, the public made to believe on that as well as finally pull the trigger. The trigger might have been pulled by now. However, politico-ideological movements rest in the minds of people. They can be physically dislodged but hard to remove from the thought processes in place. It remains to be seen how the events unfold, not just in the form of precision strikes; but the level of reaction by Iranians and above all how the world awakes to the aftermath; an obituary for the time being or an attrition of sorts where a war can drag on to weeks. Unlike Venezuela, where it was a precision operation, the Iranian nut might still be hard to crack. The events unfolding as these lines go into print will largely determine which side the region is headed to, in the first place.