As mass protests erupted in Iran
during the second week of January, 2026, Iran’s theocracy was on edge. That the
protests stemmed from the dire economic conditions facing the people
amid staggering inflation, including on basic food staples, rather than from foreign
affairs, raises the question of whether religious clergy, including the “supreme
leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are competent in making economic policy.
Without the ongoing political pressure that can come from constituents in a
representative democracy, or republic, it is no surprise that the protests in Iran
quickly became mass riots. In other words, bad economic policy by religious clerics
in power in an autocracy can easily result in popular protests abruptly erupting
into rioting. The overreaching of functionaries based in the domain of religion
into politics (including economic policy), such that the distinctiveness of the
two domains is ignored or obfuscated, can be distinguished from the problems
that go with autocracy.
Friday, January 9, 2026
Iran’s Theocracy: An Uneasy Fusion of Religion and Political Economy
