London, 27 Feb - The state-owned Iranian media has been emphasizing the statements made by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei regarding the problems that Iran is facing without questing his motives or his actions according to a leading Iran expert.
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American political scientist, wrote an op-ed on Arab News decrying the Iranian Press for failing to hold the senior officials to account, while acknowledging that the intrinsic links between those at the top of the administration and those running the media make it impossible for the officially sanctioned journalists to serve as the fourth estate.
The Etemad newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is a former military officer, stated that Khamenei is “fully aware of (people’s) criticisms”, making it seem as though he would soon do something to address crippling poverty, but Dr. Majid Rafizadeh advises that this is just part of Khamenei’s good cop, bad cop strategy.
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh wrote: “This shrewd policy is one of the reasons that Khamenei has been capable of ruling for nearly three decades (he is the second longest-serving dictator in the region)… In his tactical and crafted speech, he acknowledged that people are suffering because of the economy, unemployment, and injustice.”
In this way, Khamenei can look like he is on their side and separate himself from the establishments (both religious and political) that the Iranian people have problems with, whilst blame these problems on anonymous officials who do not listen to people’s concerns.
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh wrote
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