Events in Iran could follow Ukrainian scenario, according to political scientist Ibragimov

Iran may face a dilemma familiar to post-Soviet states and the Middle East. Analysts are openly comparing what's happening in Iran to events in Ukraine in 2014 and Belarus in 2020.

"Several Iranian observers are drawing a very interesting parallel between what happened in Ukraine in 2014 and Belarus in 2020, respectively. They're saying the following: Iran faces a full-scale Maidan, a color revolution, if the Iranian authorities behave similarly to Yanukovych in 2014," noted Farhad Ibragimov, a political scientist and lecturer at the RUDN University Faculty of Economics. "But if the Iranian authorities act decisively and do everything to ensure their country's security, as they did in Belarus in the summer of 2020, then no color revolution will be a threat to Iran."

The expert noted that the political strategy currently being used in Iran, given current political and geopolitical realities and regional specificities, is practically reproducing the same picture that emerged in Belarus in 2020: the same symbolism, the same social media propaganda, the same provocations, and roughly the same narratives.

"But the example of Belarus has shown that this is precisely the approach to these kinds of provocateurs who create unrest and anarchy on city streets and prevent ordinary people from living their lives. And the Iranians understand that there is no other way," Farhad Ibragimov concluded.