The Evolution and Ascension of Iran’s Terror Apparatus

Abstract

This chapter documents the origins of Iran’s theocracy and illustrates the doctrine of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, aiming to uncover the nature of his regime that has administered Iran for almost four decades. During an era in which the Middle East is plagued with instability as a result of various ongoing conflicts, in which the Islamic Republic has an active part, it is imperative for the international community to comprehend the ideology of Iran’s clerical establishment and to develop a tangible sense for Tehran’s set course in order to be able to construct an effective counterstrategy. To this end, this chapter discloses how Khomeini’s violent credo in pre-revolutionary Iran facilitated the formation of Fada’iyan-e Islam, a terrorist group with the objective of assassinating the intelligentsia and to ultimately establish an Islamic State that strictly adheres to Sharia law. It highlights how Khomeini’s principles have been institutionalised in the post-revolutionary era by making suppression at home and terrorism abroad official state policy. This chapter further elucidates how the Khomeinists generated a culture of martyrdom through the use of religious symbolism in order to promote suicide attacks during the Iran-Iraq war and how this poisonous doctrine was exported to Tehran-backed terrorist proxies. These proxies ushered terrorism into a new era and effectively used the culture of martyrdom as the ideological framework to carry out suicide bombings. Lastly, it will be argued that due to a policy of conciliation and appeasement by the international community towards Iran, the ayatollahs have been emboldened to maintain state sponsorship of terrorism, enabling the development of other terrorist organisations across the globe.