Death to Russia

Iran and Russia have started a joint maritime operation in the Caspian Sea to "enhance the safety of transportation." This seems to be the first such operation in the history of Russo-Iranian relations and comes at a time when the two countries have become increasingly close. NIAC has a piece about how this exercise and the closeness between Iran and Russia signal a new alliance against the United States reminiscent of Cold War alliances.

This exercise, Russian assistance in Iran's nuclear program, and the quick recognition of Ahmadinejad as President in a bizarre trip to Moscow a few days after the election all have given ammunition to the opposition to present Ahmadinejad as a puppet of Russia. Iranians have always been weary of foreign intervention, and Russia has always been the superpower to the North of Iran.

During the declining years of the Persian empire, Russia and Iran would have small wars in the Caucuses over control of the region with Russia eventually becoming dominant. During World War II, Soviet troops along with American and British occupied Iran. The Western allies agreed to leave in 1945, but the Soviets claimed that a region of Northern Iran called Azerbaijan was actually an independent country that was conveniently a Soviet puppet state. The Soviets continued to occupy Iranian territory and it was only with threats from the United States that the Soviets backed down.

Iran was staunchly anti-Soviet during the reign of the Shah given his close alliance with the United States. Many communists were arrested and killed, and prime minister Mossaddeq was overthrown because he was seen as possibly too close to the Soviets. After the 1979 Revolution, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan to Iran's East and Iranians began to worry increasing Soviet aggression into Muslim lands. In fact a popular slogan after the Revolution was that America was the big Satan and and the Soviet Union was the little Satan.

That all changed with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the weakening of Russia. The great threat to the North no longer seemed so scary and Russia was a supplier of critical supplies that the rest of world would not provide as a result of sanctions. Given the increasing anti-American nature of Russian foreign policy, the two countries have become even closer in recent years.

Yet a major part of 1979 Revolution was a desire to rid Iran of all foreign intervention wherever it came from. In a modification of the chant that was shouted during the previous revolution, Iranians are now chanting "Death to Russia" as the supporter of a repressive regime in Iran and a foreign influence in the country. The opposition is trying to paint Ahmadinejad and the regime as a puppet of Russia just as the Shah was a puppet of America. In this way, the opposition is using Iranians nationalistic pride against a regime that claims to be protecting Iran against foreign influence, but in many ways is inviting that influence from the North.