In a recent analysis of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s behavior, a troubling pattern emerges—one that suggests a descent into a state of madness or melancholy.
Khamenei’s palpable fear of the societal upheaval unfolding in the nation has led him to an extreme perspective, where even windmills are perceived as enemies, echoing the behavior of a mythical madman.
Renowned psychologist Manes Sperber, who dedicated his work to combating fascism, explores a concept in his famous book “Zur Analyse der Tyrannis.”
Sperber asserts that all dictators craft a myth—the myth of the enemy. This enemy, whether a perceived internal traitor or a distant foreign adversary, becomes the embodiment of disgrace, deceit, and malevolence.
Leaders like Khamenei and their apparatus often elevate themselves as paragons of virtue and justice, viewing the enemy as the incarnation of absolute evil and a source of all misfortune.
Dictators meticulously employ this strategy to rally support and redirect public anger and hatred toward their fabricated adversaries (those outside their inner circle).
Once they achieve their objectives, they distance themselves from their followers and the masses, retreating into a self-constructed cocoon that isolates them from reality.
Inevitably, the dictator’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior undergo a profound transformation, leading to suspicion, mistrust, paranoia, and melancholic delusions. Corruption, solitude, and fear slowly consume them.
Khamenei’s recent behavior strongly suggests that he has entered this melancholic stage, bolstering his repressive apparatus.
On September 16, the anniversary of the 2022 uprising, Iran resembled a militarized fortress. Revolutionary Guard units, Basij militia, and other repressive forces occupied the entire country.
Rarely has a single occupying force instilled such terror in a nation’s populace. The treatment meted out by the authorities, even at small gatherings of two or three people, was reminiscent of classical military rule. Shockingly, numerous women faced arrest solely because of their gender.
On Thursday, September 21, the Committee for Detainee Oversight reported that, on September 16, at least 600 women were arrested in Tehran, with 130 currently held in the Qartanine Ward of Qarchak Women’s Prison, their fate uncertain.
That same Thursday, Khamenei’s security and law enforcement forces unleashed brutal attacks on the family of martyr Javad Heydari in a village in Qazvin province.
Women and children were beaten, and tear gas was used against children attempting to visit their loved one’s grave. Disturbingly, reports indicate that the father and two brothers of martyr Javad Heydari were apprehended by intelligence operatives. The state-run website Baharnews recently announced the cancellation of the commemorative ceremony for the 2022 protest martyr, Nika Shakrami, attributing this decision to her family’s wishes.
However, on September 19, Aida Shakrami, Nika Shakrami’s sister, took to her Instagram account to reveal the summoning and subsequent arrest of individuals who attempted to pay their respects at Nika’s gravesite over the past week.
Furthermore, it has come to light that the regime’s security forces have informed the relatives of those who lost their lives on September 21, 2022, including individuals such as Erfan Rezaei, Ghazaleh Chalabi, Hananeh Kia, Javad Heydari, and others, that they are not permitted to hold any ceremonies for their loved ones on the anniversary of their deaths.
Notably, Farzaneh Barzekar, Erfan’s mother, was arrested on September 3, 2023, and remains incarcerated. Similarly, as the first anniversary of Ghazaleh Chalabi’s martyrdom approached, regime security forces contacted Fatemeh Mojtabaei, her mother, and issued a threat: if she were to attend her daughter’s graveside and organize an anniversary ceremony on Thursday evening, she too would face arrest.
The mass arrests of the families of uprising martyrs continue unabated, with hundreds now imprisoned.
All of these actions by Khamenei appear to be driven by an acute fear of an uprising. He seems to be gripped by the melancholy of potential overthrow, viewing every movement as a piece of a grand scheme against him.
