Reformist ex-president says most Iranians focus on life, not politics
Iran’s former president Mohammad Khatami said most people in the country are more concerned with living their lives amid worsening economic conditions than with who governs them.
Iran’s former president Mohammad Khatami said most people in the country are more concerned with living their lives amid worsening economic conditions than with who governs them.
“Eighty percent of the Iranian people are not political in a certain sense, and it does not matter much to them who governs or how; they only want to live and to have security and a clearer outlook for the future,” Khatami said.
He said the country has never experienced a situation as severe as the one it faces now, with challenges and threats unlike anything seen since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Khatami compared Iran’s governing system to “a sturdy tree” that had long endured hardship but now faced mounting dangers.
“This sturdy tree may be able to withstand drought and storms for many years, but today the internal and external threats and problems are so vast and significant that there is a fear this sturdy tree may suddenly wither and collapse, may that day never come,” he said.
Economic hardship
The former reformist president's remarks come as the government struggles to contain soaring prices and widening poverty.
According to Iran's Parliament’s Research Center, over a third of Iranians live in poverty.
Rising inflation and a weakening currency have helped drive up costs of living in Iran and economic pain has deepened as Western and European-triggered international sanctions compound the country's international isolation.
Earlier this month, a senior economist at Iran's Ahvaz University, Morteza Afghah, warned that annual inflation could exceed 60% by the end of the Iranian calendar year (March 2026).
Surveys say otherwise
Last week, a survey by Tehran-based news site Rouydad24 found that 92% of Iranians are unhappy with the country’s direction.
“What is clear is that total public satisfaction with all governments since the revolution is now overshadowed by a 92 percent dissatisfaction with the country’s current situation,” Rouydad24 said.
According to the outlet, the level of satisfaction with Khatami's successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration was highest overall, while those of Hassan Rouhani and Masoud Pezeshkian ranked lowest.
Another survey conducted by a Netherlands-based polling institute last year found that the majority of Iranians would vote for either a regime change or a structural transition away from the Islamic Republic.
The Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN), which conducted the survey in June 2024, said it polled more than 77,000 respondents inside Iran, weighting the results to represent the literate adult population.
“A majority of the population opposes the Islamic Republic and supports changing or transforming the political system,” the report’s author Ammar Maleki said.
Only around 20 percent of respondents want the Islamic Republic to remain in power, according to the survey.
The survey found no single consensus on what system should replace the current order. A secular republic was backed by 26 percent of respondents, while 21 percent supported a monarchy.
Another 22 percent said they lacked enough information to decide, and 11 percent said that the form of an alternative system was not important so long as change occurred.
According to the report, unnamed Iranian officials and security sources said this week that members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other agencies have become increasingly distrustful of one another after what the newspaper described as “extensive Israeli infiltration” during the 12-day war in June.
The report said officials inside Iran spoke of security personnel seeking to demonstrate their loyalty as investigations widen.
One senior Iranian official told The Telegraph that “many officials, including within the Sepah [IRGC], are doing everything they can to convince the system that they haven’t done anything wrong,” adding that “the Israelis have massively infiltrated several agencies.”
Another official said, “what’s becoming an even greater concern is the growing number of people who are, in one way or another, betraying the system,” according to the paper.
According to analysts cited in the report, the atmosphere of suspicion could complicate Iran’s crisis-management capabilities. “The paranoia within the IRGC risks weakening Iran’s most powerful military force and the regime’s ability to respond coherently to future crises."
Hundreds of people have been arrested on espionage charges since June and several Iranians have been executed, actions that officials speaking to the outlet described as intended to show that “the system is still functioning.”
The Telegraph also cited officials describing confusion over the status of Tehran’s regional allied forces and unease about the country’s longer-term direction.
A poll by the Iranian Student Polling Agency reported public dissatisfaction at 92%, attributing the figure to Iran’s economic troubles and renewed UN sanctions after the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal.
President Masoud Pezeshkian offered a similar note of concern in remarks to parliament last week, warning that Iran could “turn on itself” if the Supreme Leader were harmed during a crisis.
He said the country’s cohesion rests on Ali Khamenei’s leadership and cautioned that an attack on him during the June war might have triggered internal clashes “without the need for Israel to intervene.” He urged officials to avoid factionalism and to reinforce cooperation across state institutions.
Earlier in the month, the arrest of two men displaying the pre-1979 Iranian flag at a Tehran metro station sparked debate about discontent within parts of the security forces.
Despite the reported pressures, the Telegraph said experts believe the Iranian state remains structurally stable, pointing to what it called “rally-around-the-flag” dynamics during and after the June conflict with Israel.
"We have informed their families, and the vessel is now free to resume normal operations," Reuters quoted the manager as saying.
The Guards said on Saturday that rapid-reaction units intercepted the tanker near the Makran coast under a judicial order to confiscate its cargo. State media quoted sources saying the vessel carried about 30,000 tons of petrochemical products owned by Iran that were being transferred illegally to Singapore.
Fars news agency said the ship was directed to an Iranian anchorage for inspection and was found to be in breach of rules on transporting unauthorized goods. The Guards said the operation was carried out under legal authority “to protect national interests.”
Vessel diverted from UAE waters
The Talara, operated by Cyprus-based Columbia Shipmanagement and owned by Pasha Finance, had been sailing from Sharjah to Singapore with a load of high-sulphur gasoil when contact was lost on Nov. 15. Maritime security firm Ambrey said the tanker was about 22 nautical miles east of the UAE port of Khor Fakkan when small boats approached and the vessel changed course toward Iranian waters.
Iran has stepped up maritime enforcement in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz in recent months, citing efforts to curb fuel smuggling. The seizure came amid continuing legal cases involving other foreign vessels detained by Iranian forces in past incidents.
The operator said on Tuesday the ship and crew were in good condition and that the Talara would soon resume normal operations.