u/glazed_emerald

This is a bit of a random post, but I am just curious if there are any Iranians, who can fill me in on the dynamics on the ground.

In the West, we are getting beamed with constant propaganda about "Making Persia Great Again"; From corporate media's emphasis on that, I thought Iran was atleast 80% Persian. But that number is closer 50-60%.

Not to mention, I recognize that the IRGC is indeed oppressive. But I am not sure that I buy the whole message about the "Mad Mullahs are about nuke muh Israel and West". They seem to be more pragmatic than they get credit for. They often cross religious lines with their foreign policy. They supported the Northern Alliance before the United States did, they are Pro-Armenia over Azerbaijan, they supported Kurds against Saddam and Turkey, and they remained neutral on Indo-Pak dispute over Kashmir.

A lot of the Iranian Opposition, particularly Pahlavi, remind me much of the Serbs back in the 90s. They seem really nostalgic for the "good ole days" and have some very harrowing nationalist tendencies to say the least. I am not old enough to remember Ahmed Chalabi, but he seemed self-made in contrast to Pahlavi. So it is really hard for me to buy the narrative that Pahlavi will be welcomed into the country when he is begging other countries to bomb Iran.

That being said, how are ethnic tensions within Iran. I know there were Balochi and Kurd separatist movements in the past but how active are they now? Are people predominately religious there? I hear that Iran's public is significantly more secular than the government. I think there may be some merit in that, but I just find it a bit hard to believe when the country has been a theocracy longer than every country apart from Saudi Arabia.