Dr. Kazem Moussavi, March 2021
The ruling theocracy cannot be reformed in Iran through negotiations or deals as the Western powers could not deal with the German Nazis in the late 1930s. The ayatollahs perceive themselves as instruments of God in an apocalyptic war between good and evil. They anticipate the return of Mahdi, the hidden 12th Shiite Imam, who according to the regime’s constitution is the actual head of state, in which the current leaders occupy his seat until his imminent arrival.