So, it begins...
this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
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Same thing is happening in Iraq.
After all the fighting, suffering and genocide in the region, it'll all be for nothing once climate change makes it uninhabitable.
It was the oil wells and not the people who’s been “liberated” all along.
If there had been less spent on war they could have built some infrastructure to help with the situation.
Minute 1:30, it calls them a "fascist dictatorship"....
Look, I'm not going to apologize for Iran in any manner. But calling them fascist isn't, its not quite right. Fascism is a form of political identity. It has a specific meaning. The regime in Iran might be terrible, but its not fascist, per se..
Also the comments on this video are wild.
This video is hard to suffer through. I'd love to hear a deep dive, but I can't stomach this.
I've never heard of Iran being called fascist. It is a militant theocracy.
I've only ever heard it called fascist by people at both a) have no idea what iran is or b) have no idea what a fascist is.
"a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition"- merriam webster.
Autocratic-check Dictatorship-check Economic and social regimentation-check Suppression of opposition-check The only thing missing is nation/race above the individual and arguably their extremist theism could be considered sufficient for this as well.
Your "checks" apply to every dictatorship.
There is still a difference between fascism and theocracy. Words have meanings.
"a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition"- merriam webster.
Well Merriam Webster is wrong. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism#Definitions. Fascism is a pretty complicated class of ideologies, but a characteristic attribute of fascism is always seeking enemies internal and external and "punishing" them and that is simply not present in Iran.
Asianometry covered it two years ago.
Not as "fresh", but he's got a pretty good reputation for deep dives and puts sources in the video.
How much of it did you watch? I watched all of it and thought it was very informative, despite a few errors. I don't think they spent too much time on WHY the government is inept, just HOW inept it is. They shit on the current government and the Shah before them so I don't see them playing favorites.
Iran is pretty fascist-adjacent so it's an easy mistake to make. They hit almost all the notes to play that song.
I just finished with it and its terrible in this regard. There is no disambiguation between "just the facts" and the author/ narrators political opinions and identity. Not to say those opinions are wrong or invalid but its incredibly important to separate them and to clearly identify which is which, which even the most amateur journalist understands.
Its the framing that's the problem, and its often what a framing leaves out that ends up being more telling. You might re-watch it with a lens for what is missing rather than what is said, and honestly, its not my job to make the gaps in your political education apparent. Like, if you come away from this video with its explanation of "why" things in Iran are the way that they are, you'll come away wildly miseducated.
Just because something agrees with your bias, this doesn't make it correct.
It's definitely glossing over some stuff, like when it talks about the unwillingness of neighbors to trade with them and chalking it up to "burned bridges", I imagine the aggressive US sanctions they've been under played a big role there.
Fascism is a political buzz word. In some ways it is like communism was back in the cold war.
I don't agree. Calling it a buzzword diminishes the terrible things that are happening in the world. There's really a lot of parallels to the 1930s which is really worrying because the 1930s led to the 1940s.
And continues to be in contemporary commentary.
Some articles on the topic, for those who prefer text to video:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4p2yzmem0o
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/world/middleeast/iran-water-rationing-drought.html
Thanks.
Iranian law stipulates that 85 percent of domestic food be produced locally, Morad Kaviani, professor of geography and hydropolitics at Iran’s Kharazmi University, told state television last week.
However, he added, Iran does not have the water and soil capacities, and nearly 30 percent of agricultural produce is wasted due to a lack of infrastructure, outdated irrigation practices and misguided crop selection.
Sounds like one of the biggest root disasters, eh?
So, this situation may only slightly be related to AGCC, but it does seem ominous in painting a certain picture of the future. I wonder if and when Russia and China step in, here...
So US sanctions and hostility basically caused the water crisis because they're forced to maintain food security by growing it at home.. In essentially a desert
Eh, reading the first article, it sounds like it was even more than that, as in: too much middle-management involved in making key water decisions, too much zeal post-revolution in building new dams, too much waffling and inadequate resoluteness at the leadership levels across several decades.
In other words, the sanctions were no doubt a major blow, but the real issue seems to be how Iran responded to the blow. Plus a bunch of other stuff on top that didn't help.
Meanwhile, something I have no idea about is whether Iran's regional allies, plus China & Russia, could have used trade and such to help offset the sanctions in the first place..?
Meanwhile, something I have no idea about is whether Iran’s regional allies, plus China & Russia, could have used trade and such to help offset the sanctions in the first place…?
They could almost certainly offset it enormously. Rice and beans shipped in from China are unlikely to cost much more than those from the US.
My bet is that "85% domestic production" threshold is less a result of sanctions, and more either (a) self-imposed isolationism, or (b) protectionist policies designed to empower one or other political faction in the country.
Sounds about right; thanks!
Iran has open trade relations with China, Russia, and Turkey, which all have significant agricultural output. It also does quite a bit of trade with Europe despite sanctions. It does not have to artificially limit itself to importing only 15% of its food, especially given that irrigation is contributing to an unsustainable water crisis.
Note that just because they have open trade relations with a state doesn't mean they can import whatever they want. It's a Cuba situation; US secondary sanctions target businesses and they're harsh. Water mismanagement is obviously a major cause here, but don't underestimate the effect of Western sanctions on smaller countries.