4 monthsMinute 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.
- West_of_West@piefed.socialEnglish4 months
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.
- phdepressed@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
“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.
- 4 months
Your “checks” apply to every dictatorship.
There is still a difference between fascism and theocracy. Words have meanings.- Fondots@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
I’m all for splitting hairs over semantics, and I’ll agree with you that “fascist” probably isn’t the best label for Iran
But if you take a step back and look at the big picture, it does look a hell of a lot like fascism.
Extreme right wing, militaristic government, social and economic regimentation, charismatic, authoritarian dictators, focusing a whole lot of hatred and blame on people in the nation who don’t conform and towards external enemies, etc.
I don’t know that they’re exactly nationalistic, but they do have religion filling pretty much that same role, and let’s be real, the line’s pretty damn blurry between religion and government there.
And they don’t exactly make racial/ethnic superiority a centerpiece of their identity, but they’re certainly not exactly sitting around singing “Kumbaya” with their minorities either, and again we have religion filling a pretty similar role in other ways.
You can get into the weeds about the specific philosophies at play here and about the history that led them to their current situation, and there’s certainly merit in doing that, but as far as the casual observer is concerned, they do look and quack a hell of a lot like fascists, and while it’s not the best label for what they have going on it’s certainly not the worst either. I’d maybe prefer to slap a qualifier on it- something like pseudo-fascist, islamo-fascist, maybe something like “Farscism” if we want to get a little cutesy with the wordplay to separate it from “classic” fascism.
And similarly I’d probably want to slap a few qualifiers onto the term “theocracy” as well before applying it to Iran, I don’t think that just that one word really points the whole picture.
And now that I’m looking at it, “fascist theocracy” might be a contender for how I’d label them.
- anomnom@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
Is a theocratic dictatorship and better than a fascist dictatorship?
The oppressed women and any non-Muslim (or even just non-strict-adherents) wouldn’t feel a difference.
- 4 months
No it’s not better, and I didn’t say it was.
But “bad” =/= “fascism”.
- 4 months
“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.
fascism is always seeking enemies internal and external and “punishing” them
- Morality police definitely not hurting anyone. /s
- Iran is not in opposition to western imperialism at all, actually, they are surrounded by friends. /s
That being said, I don’t think I would characterize Iran as fascist.
If you really want to define fascism, you need to understand how it appears:
Fascism is a counter-revolutionary reactionary movement led by finance capital and a form of dictatorship of the bourgeoisie which emerged during periods of economic crisis in imperialist countries. In other words, fascism is capitalism in decay.
Thus many of its characteristics becomes an aesthetic dependant on the specific material conditions and social superstructure of its origins.
- FishFace@piefed.socialEnglish4 months
Uh, doesn’t Iran’s government obsess over Israel and the USA, and people at home who don’t follow Sharia?
- 4 months
Iran doesn’t “obsess” about the US and Israel; they’re geopolitical rivals with the US and Israel. This is like saying Russia or China obsess about the West. As for Sharia, I don’t know shit about the Iranian justice system, but theocracy does not equal fascism. These are two completely different things.
- FishFace@piefed.socialEnglish4 months
Which of those refers to their geopolitical rivals as “great satan”?
But bringing in Russia is somewhat ironic here. Modern Russia has many fascist traits. Fascism is on the rise…
- 4 months
Which of those refers to their geopolitical rivals as “great satan”?
If someone does to you what America did to Iran you’d call them Satan too. There’s still no basis for the fascism accusation; countries under fascism will do more than call their rivals bad words.
Modern Russia has many fascist traits.
Yes, and it’s not because they hate America. Russia has everything from violence against minorities and expansionism to literal genocide. Contrast to Iran’s somewhat aggressive but restrained foreign policy.
- Alaik@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
I wish people would read into Mussolinis own words on this. The asshole invented fascism and wanted to call it Corporatism. The US is essentially fascist. Iran is authoritarian.
- 4 months
Populist… It’s the second word in your quoted definition probably because it’s important
- 4 months
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.
Iranians have a more democratic society than any other country you could name in the region.
What they are is under siege. The eleven day war with Israel crippled their domestic infrastructure. And the ongoing sanctions placed by the US prevented them from rebuilding in a timely manner.
- treesquid@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
That’s like saying that out of a rhino, a hippo and a horse, the horse is best at flying because it can jump. Iran isn’t democratic. It’s a single party theocracy that jails or murders it’s people for saying mean stuff about the unelected leader that was supposedly chosen by god.
Iran isn’t democratic. It’s a single party theocracy
I count four major coalitions of parties, and a healthy batch of independents, which is more than can be said of any American, Canadian, or UK government. I don’t know how you get “single party” out of that. Hell, the Reformist coalition just took the Presidency a year ago for the first time.
jails or murders it’s people for saying mean stuff about the unelected leader that was supposedly chosen by god
You seem to have Iran confused with the US. It’s always fucking projection with you guys.
- Godric@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
How fucking disingenuous can you be? Like the number of prties is an indicator if how good you’re doing democracy, ignoring the rape, torture, murder, and disappearance of dissidents.
You should be ashamed to defend such a brutal regime, unless you live there in fear of arbitrary arrest for not.
Like the number of prties is an indicator if how good you’re doing democracy
“Iran only has one party and that’s bad”
“The number of parties doesn’t matter, aktuly, and you’re stupid if you thought so”
:-/
You should be ashamed to defend such a brutal regime
Wipe the Saudi light sweet crude off your lips before you try to deliver that line in earnest.
I suspect your definition of “brutal regime” is “they won’t let me jerk it to women in bikinis”. There’s no real concern for Iranians assassinated by the Mossad or bombed by the Americans or starved through international sanctions. Nevermind the native expats hounded by western anti-immigration police or scientists who were kidnapped and tortured or civilians shot out of the sky for no reason at all.
You only seem to understand “brutality” as a White Man’s Burden to resolve. So long as westerners get to exploit the labor and livelihood of a Middle Eastern people, Islamic Despots don’t seem to bother you in the slightest.
- Godric@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Nice job not remotely adressing my point, while callously handwaving away rape and diappearances as a tool of governmental control by claiming I support their mildly less authoritarian neighbors. When you feel the need to strawman the shit out of someone, you should know you’re talking out of your ass.
This is the country you are explicitly defending. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/middle-east/iran/report-iran/
Do you mean the Guardian Council of Islamic Jurists? The populist leaders that lead the revolution against the Shah’s military dictatorship in 1979 and retain enormous popularity within Iran’s conservative religious community?
They’ve got about as much “absolute power” as any unelected SCOTUS judges. The power is entirely derived from the Iranian bureaucracy’s loyalty to the Council over the Presidency.
- WALLACE@feddit.ukEnglish4 months
Weird. Almost like picking fights with countries that can kerb stomp you blindfolded is a terrible idea.
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.
- biofaust@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
As an Italian, I can tell you that I call theocratic regimes whose power is based on individual control and punishment at scale, fascist regimes.
I know that totalitarian or, in some other cases, authoritarian would be more appropriate, but at least in my culture fascism has been the first and the archetype of all totalitarianisms.
Not letting Iran enjoy the deserved hate it derives from an even longer history of antifascism would be too big a discount.
- madcaesar@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Theocracy, fascist, dictatorship, the difference is fun for political majors to circlejerk about, but at the end of the day, these governments are hell for the populace.
They torture, imprison and kill people that are different, people that dare dissent.
- brucethemoose@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Also the comments on this video are wild.
Honestly, they are above par for YouTube.
…So maybe they’re bots? The more expensive kind?
Since when are we getting so heated debates about fascism? Trump has ICE, and no one discussed if he wasn’t facist before that. Learn to see the cues. Elimination of competing political rivals is just one aspect.
Plus, if we were to look for a definition, might as well take one that accounts for understanding that facist regimes are, beyond all, a process. See for example the text by George Orwell: ‘What is Fascism?’ (1944)
By ‘Fascism’ they mean, roughly speaking, something cruel, unscrupulous, arrogant, obscurantist, anti-liberal and anti-working-class. Except for the relatively small number of Fascist sympathizers, almost any English person would accept ‘bully’ as a synonym for ‘Fascist’. That is about as near to a definition as this much-abused word has come.
But Fascism is also a political and economic system. Why, then, cannot we have a clear and generally accepted definition of it? Alas! we shall not get one — not yet, anyway. To say why would take too long, but basically it is because it is impossible to define Fascism satisfactorily without making admissions which neither the Fascists themselves, nor the Conservatives, nor Socialists of any colour, are willing to make. All one can do for the moment is to use the word with a certain amount of circumspection and not, as is usually done, degrade it to the level of a swearword.
And I wouldn’t say the use here is just a swearword. Saying Iran is under a fascist regime should unite us to identify a problem, the suffering of their population. Do not allow semantics to be one another reason why we are fighting among us, the people with radical decency.
Fascism is a political buzz word. In some ways it is like communism was back in the cold war.
- Bloefz@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
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.
- Alaik@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
I feel like most people with an IQ over 85 are understanding fascism more than communism now given recent worldwide geopolitical events.
- ZILtoid1991@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Fascism is contantly evolving, thus calling it one is fitting. It’s not just swastikas, and some realized they can deflect accusations of fascism with stuff like being “anti-swastika”, but only performatively (see Russia for that example).
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.
- Ugurcan@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
It was the oil wells and not the people who’s been “liberated” all along.
- Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish4 months
If there had been less spent on war they could have built some infrastructure to help with the situation.
- Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish4 months
As the Official British Report On The Iraq War showed, both the Brits and the Americans (more the latter than the former) committed the War Crime of Pillaging by forcing the Iraqi Administration they themselves put in place after conquering the place to give Oil Exploration contracts to British and American companies.
Saddam (for decades supported by America) was shit and the self proclaimed “Liberators of the Iraqi People” were almost as bad, so that “infinite” money hasn’t been for Iraqis in a long time.
- Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish4 months
Sure, but what does Iraq have to do with this? We are talking about a different country.
- CybranM@feddit.nuEnglish4 months
They’ve had “infinite” free money for decades and have had Norway as a clear example to follow but have chosen to squander it all.
Edit: I’m not talking about Iran specifically, although I understand the confusion, but the region in general as mentioned in rimus comment.
- 4 months
Gee, I wonder why they didn’t use their free money to improve their country. Was it the (at least for a while) US-backed dictator getting US aid and weapons to send young Iraqi men to their deaths? Or was it the US sanctions killing thousands of Iraqi children and impoverishing the rest of the population? Or was it the US invasion plunging their country into over a decade of civil war and instability that continues to this day? I suppose we’ll never know!
- CybranM@feddit.nuEnglish4 months
The us invaded every country in the middle east? TIL
Guess they’re never going to be the masters of their own fate, in 200 years they can still blame the us for any shortcomings.
- 4 months
Iran literally got couped in 1953 after democratically electing a progressive, secular government. The country’s oil exports literally got MILITARILY BLOCKED by the British navy, and the USA sponsored mafias to carry out terror attacks and make it seem like it was communists who did it.
But go ahead, remain ignorant.
- CybranM@feddit.nuEnglish4 months
I’m not talking about Iran specifically, although I understand it wasn’t very clear in my first comment, but the region in general.
Besides that, 1953 is quite a few decades ago, will they ever stand on their own feet or will they forever blame the past? Every country has had tragedies but unjust as it may be you have to move forwards
- 4 months
So, not talking about Iran in particular in a post about Iran, just handwaving about “the region”, shows how much you understand the politics of Iran.
What happened to Iran isn’t an isolated incident a few decades ago. The fact is that as soon as a government tries to rule itself to serve its people instead of western capitalists, it gets couped at best and bombed and invaded at worst. We’re seeing it today with Venezuela. The constant threat of invasion, coup and bombing is what makes these governments more repressive than they would be otherwise.
- Redacted@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
Them trying to use the oil for their own means is what started this mess. They did not have infinite money
- anamethatisnt@sopuli.xyzEnglish4 months
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…?
- blarghly@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
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.
And do ya reckon there’s 0 espionage from Israel or other states
- protist@mander.xyzEnglish4 months
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.
- 4 months
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.
- Tollana1234567@lemmy.todayEnglish4 months
us sanctions because ISRAEl does not like them, theres no other reason, the NUkes were just an excuse.
- Whitebrow@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Protip; first time you use an acronym, parse it, and then you can continue referring to it with the abbreviation.
ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing) as an example could be used to denote something that was, to the receiver, funnier than LOL (laughing out loud)
- quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish4 months
Holy shit, what made you think anyone will understand that abbreviation?
- leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish4 months
I don’t know… I’d never seen the acronym before, but it seemed fairly obvious in context… (as Anthropogenic Global Climate Change, obviously), especially given that “global warming” seems to be falling out of use due to it being at the same time too specific and not enough…
Er, well… it’s now year 2025, AGCC has been scientifically documented and publicly talked about for decades, and is now arguably the biggest existential threat to humanity?
You know… as seen in increasingly dangerous storm systems year after year, rising global temps year after year, more wildfires, more droughts, rising ocean acidification, rising difficulty growing crops, the holocene extinction accelerating… things like that? All are directly impacted by AGCC, to name a few.
Getting harder and harder to live under a rock, tell you hwat.
- quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish4 months
I’m not questioning how real anthropogenic global climate change is. I’m questioning your decision of using just the initials assuming everyone understand automatically.
When I googled “AGCC meaning” the suggestions were:
AGenesis of the Corpus Callosum
Alderney Gambling Control Commission
Arab Gulf Cooperation Council
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce Action for a Global Climate Community
Agencia Comercial Spirits ltd (AGCC)I didn’t assume. People are going to understand and misunderstand terms no matter what acronym or definition is used, like CC or GCC. Or they’ll deny, get it twisted, whatever. Or ask a curious followup, as you did.
When I googled “AGCC meaning” the suggestions were:
Well, context is king. If you asked what it meant within that sentence, then it might be able to narrow things down better. We all do this all the time, of course.
- Ardyssian@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
Not OP - I’ve been exposed to Climate Change news to the point of possible depression but I’ve never seen the concept referred to as AGCC before too
One way that serves a purpose is in making it clear that this isn’t just some natural variance going on, for example in taking on the hand-wavers who like to say ‘oh, it all goes in cycles; nothing to worry about!’
So GCC sometimes gets appended with an “A” for “anthropomorphic” to make it crystal clear that (just like the Holocene Extinction) it’s largely (or wholly) man-made. Personally I tend to fluctuate between terms, mainly based on recency bias and just whatever my naked ape brain happens to settle on. :P
- zeca@lemmy.mlEnglish4 months
Anthropogenic*, no?
Morphic is about shape/form.
Genic is about origin, like we are causing the climate change.
- Leavingoldhabits@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Since we’re being sticklers here, the correct term would be Anthropogenic, as in comes from humans, anthropomorphic would be global climate change with human appearance or qualities.
Yeah, my girl dresses as Gaia from Captain Planet, then I come in and wreck the shit out of her.
- bitwolf@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
My first grade teacher swore WW3 would be over clean water.
Hes been proven more and more right as time goes on.
- JasonDJ@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
Man I thought the assassination of MLK Jr was a heavy topic for first grade when my kid came home talking all about it. You got him beat by a mile.
- Psythik@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
That’s a pretty heavy topic for a first grade teacher. Meanwhile I wasn’t taught about WWII until freshman year of high school.
GenX has had WW3 hanging over our heads since we could walk. There was a brief respite during the 90s, but that’s over now.
- JasonDJ@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
As a millennial, born too late for duck-and-cover…born too early for shelter-in-place.
- 4 months
I was talking to someone the other day about the freedom that was felt in the music and movies of the time due, in my opinion, to the constantly hovering cold war end-of-the-world.
- doingthestuff@lemy.lolEnglish4 months
I came to the comments hoping that someone had acknowledged that lack of water has consistently led to war.
- shplane@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
It’s like the movie Water World was an exact foretelling of what was to come
- nullptr@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
What ya mean “no water”? Are they all relying on bottled water, like the whole country? Cant watch youtube
- 4 months
There’s a good real life lore video on nebula. They killed their traditional agricultural system with an extractive well water fueled one which depletes aquifers. Neighboring rivers from other countries got dammed. They rerouted their own rivers for dams and dried out lakes and flooded a salt deposit making the whole river salty. They also focus a lot on domestic agriculture at the expense of water depletion. All around poor mismanagement using outdated American plans to build their dam infrastructure without environmental assessments.
Wait wait wait.
Sooo… a theocratic nation lead by irrational bigots, using decades old ultracapitalistic plans… aren’t getting shit done?
- cashsky@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
Let’s just not talk about how the US overthrew a democratically elected government and installed a puppet who was deeply unpopular and was later overthrown after a revolution which caused the current leader to be in power due to a power vacuum which then lead to deep sanctions from US and US allies so they’ve had to try and be self sufficient.
Well yes, Iran used to be nice.
Unfortunately they had/have oil.
https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/war-for-oil-conspiracy-theories-may-be-right
Okay, you got me there. What about “Iran used to be nicer”? Would that be okay?
- partofthevoice@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
Someone needs to make a movie that kicks off with the Middle East having led the Industrial Revolution by capitalistic means of rapid production and innovation. Their need for natural resources growing, and them deciding to use military dominance to covertly get what they need in that regard. Them invading parts of an impoverished US, installing government leaders, … all of it. It would make for a hell of a movie. Kind of like the one where the Soviets won the space race.
- stringere@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
There is a similar alternative history book, The Years of Rice and Salt, that explores the idea of what if the black death killed 99% of Europeans instead of 33%; Europe repopulated by Muslim pioneers, the indigenous peoples of the Americas forming a league to resist Chinese and Muslim invaders, and a 67-year-long world war being fought primarily between Muslim states and the Chinese and their allies.
- ronl2k@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Still, Iranians were overall more satisfied under The Shah’s regime than those that followed.
- cashsky@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
Imagine going from democratic government to a monarch like western puppet with foreign backing out of no where. Id imaging you would be pretty unhappy and would try to overthrow and hope something better would come along. Of course you don’t know what’s gonna fill that power vacuum but you are suffering NOW and want change NOW. Seems pretty logical.
- stringere@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
Imagine going from democratic government to a monarch like western puppet with foreign backing out of no where
We’re living that now in the USA. Oh how the turns are tabled.
- 4 months
There is also a lot of info about the CIA teaching the Iranian gov’t effective torture techniques. I totally understand the animosity.
- 4 months
There is certainly a lot of bad the USA intelligence agencies have done in the past, but the current administration of Iran has been around in various forms for 45 years and it’s backed economically and militarily by Russia and China, blaming anything happening there today on the USA is insanity.
That would be like me blaming the Chinese for the state of Israel because of some shit happening on that soil during WWII.
- grindemup@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
You mentioned “outdated American plans”. I searched around a fair bit but wasn’t able to find any indications that Iranian dams were built using American dams as reference. Do you have a source for that?
- Credibly_Human@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
I think perhaps this is a misunderstanding and they were simply stating that they did similarly to america, rather than implying any direct involvement.
- grindemup@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Apparently this isn’t the case - see their other comment. I haven’t read through the article yet but they are claiming a pretty direct connection.
- 4 months
- HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish4 months
From what I’ve heard, the current government tapped the groundwater table to push farming. Now, there isn’t enough groundwater to accommodate the difference between water demand and river water.
It sucks for Iran.
- Vupware@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
Meanwhile, the rest of the world will completely disregard this cautionary tale and continue to extract groundwater to farm until only saltwater remains.
Then, as billions of people are dying of starvation, thirst, and societal downfall, the elite will finally prioritize desalination R&D and if/when they get something to work they will hail it as a revolutionary step for humanity and completely disregard the fact that this R&D / subsequent proliferation could have been initiated decades ago when the problem was first apparent.
Voila, no more overpopulation crisis, and water, what the civilized world once considered a human right, is now used as a method for exerting control, as it is only ever potable (sans rainwater) after being processed.
- BanMe@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Parts of the US, like all the major cities in Texas, are actively sinking because we’re draining the aquifers that took millennia to fill. It’s yet another problem just festering, fascinating to watch as the reality approaches.
- Tollana1234567@lemmy.todayEnglish4 months
vegas, las angelas is not suppose to exist but water has to be diverted to these counties.
- 4 months
Maybe not suppose to exist in their current size (the same could be said for a lot of large cities), but humans have lived in both for thousands of years.
- nullptr@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Lol oh look, people in power are myopic and prioritize short term benefice over long term thonking; I wonder how often that happens!
people in power are myopic and prioritize short term benefice over long term thonking
I’m not sure “maintaining adequate levels of domestic crop yield” is a short-term benefit. They’re stretched for water because they’re in a historic drought during a climate catastrophe. This is a no-win situation, exacerbated by the constant threat of military invasion by nuclear superpowers and their rabid fascist local proxies.
The Iranian government can’t summon rain from the heavens any easier than their Saudi or Qatari neighbors. Those states just have the benefit of access to western markets and engineering firms for enormous desalination plants. Meanwhile, Iranians’ energy infrastructure - necessary to run the pumps and pipelines that irrigate much of the country - have been subject to repeated bombardment by Israeli and US aircraft. Most notably, their civilian nuclear program was crippled by Trump’s B-2 bombing run in June. But this is just the tail end of the damage inflicted by the eleven day shootout with Israel.
- AA5B@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
And yet other articles were blaming corruption and cronyism for not adequately limiting water used for agriculture
Western Press do be like that. The Saudi government is experiencing the same water crisis, but somehow remains beyond repute.
The B-2 hit their uranium enrichment, not their one civilian nuclear power plant. Iran buys uranium from Russia already enriched to the ~5% level needed to run that power plant. The Iranian program to enrich uranium above that level is entirely a weapons program, since they have no need for uranium enrichment to run their power plant.
Perhaps instead of investing less resources in a nuclear weapons program and more into projects to benefit their population, Iran wouldn’t be in such a mess.
This is a no-win situation, exacerbated by the constant threat of military invasion by nuclear superpowers and their rabid fascist local proxies.
Nobody wants to invade Iran, just the countries that their calls for death to don’t want them to have nuclear weapons for obvious reasons. When you chant “Death to America! Death to Israel” constantly while funding a bunch of terrorist groups, plotting assassinations, and enriching uranium for nuclear weapons they probably shouldn’t be too surprised about the outcome of those actions.
Most Iranians are good people, but the ruling regime are some of the worst people in the world and prioritize being adversarial assholes over running their country properly. They’re losers and I hope they get overthrown by the Iranian people.
- nullptr@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Fair enough i was a little harsh; but I hughly doubt their uranium is civilian
I hughly doubt their uranium is civilian
It is at least as civilian as any French nuclear plant. To date, there is no evidence of plutonium enrichment or bomb construction, which is more than can be said of their Israeli neighbors.
- ptu@sopuli.xyzEnglish4 months
Also related is the Water conflict in the Middle East and North Africa caused by dams, although Iran seems to not be reliant on waterflows from elsewhere. Maybe low rainfall and bad distribution of resources
Yeah they’ve talked about how Iran has been in a drought for quite a while. It’s like utah, we’ve been in a drought for 20 plus years at this point we had one good water year last year and for the first time in quite a while came out of our drought status and everybody just kind of forgot and then all of a sudden by the end of the summer most the state was back in a drug in severe drought status again I can’t wait for all of our idiotic agriculture here to dry up the water table just like it has over there.
On the bright side, they’ve got lots of brand new sinkholes. So that’s nice.
- 4 months
I feel for the innocent civilians who did not ask for or deserve this.
But I feel nothing for the ones who stood beside the brutal regime and made more enemies than competent allies.
Rumour is the regime is just going to move out of Tehran to somewhere else in the country, so unfortunately they may escape the consequences of their poor governing. Unless the people rise up against them of course.
- 4 months
You’re right, Ayatollah Khomeini should have… made it rain somehow. It’s all also Russia and China’s fault!!
- 4 months
Damming rivers with runoffs into salt plains and salt desert, funneling water into agriculture for gdp, and making enemies in every direction was probably a really bad move, ngl.
If they hadn’t done any one particular thing in that list then things wouldn’t be so bad, now.
Heads up, desertification is spreading rapidly through that region due to climate change. It’s not going to rain well every year, mate.
- 4 months
Damming rivers with runoffs into salt plains and salt desert, funneling water into agriculture for gdp, and making enemies in every direction was probably a really bad move, ngl
Yeah, how dare they seek food security without imports in the face of international embargo.
- 4 months
GDP means Gross Domestic Product which means they were EXPORTING THE FOOD and actually a huge amount of spices such as Safron. You could argue that they are just really really really bad at math but the result is the same, incompetence leading to drought.
- 4 months
GDP doesn’t imply export though? I don’t follow the non sequitur.
- 4 months
GDP measures consumption, government spending, and exports minus imports.
- 4 months
So investment on agriculture for local consumption also rises GDP, and your first comment is a non sequitur?
- Worstdriver@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
But, are they wrong?
Seriously, someone can be the epitome of what you despise and still be correct about something.
- IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Yes they are wrong. Iran is suffering because of Israel and heavy US sanctions. The US regime is the problem.
- TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
Maybe that nuke money should have gone into solving this problem
- smol_beans@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
If they didn’t have nukes the USA would’ve “liberated” them and turned them into iraq by now
- TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
Well they don’t have nukes and they didn’t get “liberated”, but maybe they should have been, there would be less civilian graves in Ukraine killed by Shaheed Drones.
- smol_beans@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
they didn’t get “liberated”, but maybe they should have been
Are you in the CIA?
- 4 months
Spewing Israhelli propaganda, I see.
Maybe if Iran hadn’t been couped by the USA and Britain for attempting to make its own decisions with its oil, they’d be in a much better position, but alas, we’ll never know what would have been if the Shah hadn’t been reinstated by the west.
- TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zipEnglish4 months
Sure, BP fucked Iran really bad and maybe it could have been a beacon of progress in the region today.
Doesn’t change the fact that as of today it’s a terrorist state that shoots down civilian planes and supplies despots with war crime drones.
- 4 months
You defend american terrorism, which murders millions of people yearly. Go throw your body to the meatgrinder in Vietnam or whatever your empire is doing right now.
- 4 months
They could recycle all the aluminum tubes for a hydroelectric pump station lmao.
- Gammelfisch@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
Coming soon to the USA, but under the Christo-Fascist fuck nuts.
- Tollana1234567@lemmy.todayEnglish4 months
no, that happened because these rich people decided to build in a high risk fire area, very little to do with the water situation.
- TangledHyphae@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
During the Palisades Fire in January 2025, firefighters experienced significant water pressure problems and some hydrants ran dry, hampering firefighting efforts in higher elevation areas. This was due to unprecedented demand overwhelming the local water system, which is designed for typical urban structure fires, not large-scale wildfires.
Key Details on the Water Issues
System Overload: The demand for water to fight the fire was four times the normal use for 15 straight hours, which lowered the water pressure. The local system, designed for individual house fires, could not handle a firestorm affecting multiple neighborhoods simultaneously.
Dry Tanks: The three water storage tanks that supply the Palisades area from higher elevations were depleted and could not be refilled fast enough due to the high consumption rate at lower elevations.
Empty Reservoir: The nearby 117-million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir, a potential lifeline, was empty at the time for a necessary repair of a tear in its protective cover, as required by public health regulations.
Are you sure it had little to do with the water?
- Tollana1234567@lemmy.todayEnglish4 months
most of it was the fault of the rich people building in such a high risk area, knowing that there is a potential for that to happen.
- thr0w4w4y2@sh.itjust.worksEnglish4 months
I guarantee a pint of crude oil contains all the calories you need for the rest of your life.
- foenix@lemmy.radioEnglish4 months
Understand that desalination is extremely energy intensive and takes a massive initial investment… Years ago.
Yeah, you’re right. Better just to use geoengineering stuff, like cloud seeding aerosol injection and such, to bring about a deluge. :3 Tada!
- 4 months
Tehran is 1200m above the Caspian Sea. Good luck pumping water for 28mn people up 1200m.
- Worstdriver@lemmy.worldEnglish4 months
And so, you become like them. Rigid, unyielding, and unable to see any viewpoint but your own. I feel pity for the future you and am glad I will not live to see it
Their God will save them any time now. All those years of oppressing women will surely pay off.
- 4 months
Least racist westerner. Do you also routinely wish hell upon Polish people for being, on average, vehemently Catholic and conservative?
