Years of repression, corruption, and economic failure have created an unprecedented rift between Iranian society and the ruling establishment.
In recent years, public distrust toward Iran’s ruling regime has grown to unprecedented levels. This erosion of confidence is rooted in persistent economic mismanagement, disregard for the population’s real demands, violent crackdowns on protests, and a surge in human rights violations and executions. Together, these factors have led to a dramatic decline in political participation and a widening rift between the Iranian people and the state.
According to the state-run Jahan Sanat newspaper, “The relationship between the people and the parliament in Iran has become deeply rift and distrustful due to the disregard for the real demands of society and economic problems.” The paper further emphasized that the current divide “has emerged as a result of public distrust” and represents one of the most pressing sociological issues of the time.
Instead of addressing the people’s economic hardships, successive governments have focused on marginal and ideological agendas. The current parliament, for example, has prioritized bills such as the “chastity and hijab” law and the “cyberspace regulation” bill, both of which have triggered widespread public backlash. This preoccupation with social control over economic recovery has only deepened the sense of disillusionment among citizens struggling with inflation, unemployment, and poverty.
Jahan Sanat also acknowledged that “official figures regarding the 12th parliamentary elections indicate a decline in people’s trust and participation in this institution,” attributing this primarily to worsening economic conditions since 2017. The sharp drop in voter turnout in the 2021 and 2024 presidential elections, as well as the most recent parliamentary vote, reflects the tangible collapse of public confidence in state institutions.
Even regime insiders have reluctantly recognized this crisis. Seyyed Yousef Tabatabai-Nejad, the Friday prayer leader of Isfahan, admitted, “If the number of votes in the elections is low, it shows that the people have turned away from the government.” Similarly, Mostafa Kavakebian, another regime figure, noted that a significant number of students were unaware of when elections were being held — a striking indication of how irrelevant the political process has become for many Iranians.
The intellectual and social gap between the parliament and society has widened sharply. As Jahan Sanat observed, “What the people want is far from the priorities of the representatives.” While ordinary citizens demand economic reform and relief from poverty, lawmakers continue to push ideological and repressive legislation, further alienating the population. The growing presence of extremist voices in parliament has only intensified this disconnection.
Beyond legislative failures, the regime’s violent suppression of peaceful protests has been a decisive factor in deepening public distrust. Major uprisings in January 2017, November 2019, and across 2022 were met with deadly force, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests. These brutal crackdowns, coupled with the regime’s ongoing disregard for social freedoms and livelihood concerns, have sent a clear message: the government neither listens to its people nor tolerates dissent.
This vicious cycle of economic neglect and political repression has pushed Iranians to withdraw not only from elections but from all state institutions. The resulting decline in social capital and civic engagement represents more than just public frustration — it is a serious warning sign for the regime’s stability and future.
