Artist: Ahmad Barakizadeh
By Kayhan Life Staff
Across the Middle East and extending to Africa, the Islamic Republic’s vast network of influence is showing signs of decay. The ideological project that once fueled militancy now resembles a deserted field — its old symbols of resistance standing like scarecrows.
In Iraq, the government is being pressed by the U.S. to dismantle militias backed by Tehran. Washington is also targeting individuals who have diverted millions from Tehran to Hezbollah.
In southern Lebanon, Israel has intensified strikes on Hezbollah positions to prevent rearmament, as the Lebanese Army takes a rare step toward disarming the group. Israeli operations have also extended to the clerical state’s drone supply chains in Africa, while Egyptian mediators in Rafah urge weary Hamas fighters to surrender their weapons in exchange for safe passage.
At the center of this surreal wasteland lies the heart of the old struggle. It once beat with promises of liberation and paradise; now it sits, fenced and rusting.
Even in Iran, the revolutionary defiance has given way to contempt for the theocracy. The old, repetitive slogans strain the eardrums of the one-time warriors, who are kept awake at night by the hungry rumble of their empty stomachs.
The scarecrows still stand, relics of an empire built on defiance. Their heads are sacks, not of ideas, but of sand.
