Democracy and Reform in the Middle East and Asia SocialProtest and Authoritarian Rule after the Arab Spring Edited by Amin Saikal and Amitav Acharya (original) (raw)

This chapter discusses Iran's reaction to the Arab Revolution that began in late 2010 and evaluates its implications on the country's domestic and regional standing. Initially seen as supportive of the uprisings, the Iranian regime quickly faced challenges as it attempted to reconcile these events with its own ideological framework of Islamic leadership. The analysis highlights the contradictions in Iran's policies in response to the revolutions, particularly in relation to the conflicts in Syria and Bahrain, ultimately arguing that these events have eroded Iran's soft power and magnified internal pressures on its regime.