Raisi principlist-conservative government (Iran)

Doctrine — stated goals and content

Principlist-conservative resistance-economy doctrine: sanctions-endurance macroeconomics, BRICS-Eurasia pivot, domestic protest suppression, and nuclear-programme acceleration as negotiating leverage. Core programme — (i) JCPOA revival talks in Vienna 2021-2022 collapsed; uranium enrichment raised to 60% and IAEA monitoring degraded; (ii) Mahsa Amini death in morality-police custody 16 Sep 2022 triggered Women-Life-Freedom nationwide protests spanning ~120 cities, ~500+ killed, ~20,000 arrested, multiple protester executions; (iii) China-brokered Iran-Saudi normalisation 10 Mar 2023; (iv) BRICS accession 1 Jan 2024 alongside Egypt, UAE, Ethiopia; Shanghai Cooperation Organisation full membership Jul 2023; (v) direct Iran-Israel military exchange 13-14 Apr 2024 (first direct state-to-state strike, ~300 drones/missiles) after Damascus consulate strike; (vi) resistance-economy rhetoric: "knowledge-based" production, import- substitution, neighbourhood trade via rial-rouble/yuan settlement; (vii) inflation 40-50% YoY range, rial depreciation to ~600,000/USD by mid-2024, oil exports partially recovered to ~1.5-1.6m bpd via discounted sales to China; (viii) fuel-quota adjustments and bread-subsidy restructuring 2022 ("noon-kart" smart-card); (ix) hijab-law enforcement intensification and Chastity and Hijab Bill advanced through Majles Sep 2023; (x) demographic decline — fertility below replacement, net emigration of skilled workers. Left-right: principlist-conservative pole within clerical-theocratic system; more hardline than Rouhani-era on social enforcement, foreign alignment, and protest policing. Popularity: Raisi won 62.9% of votes 2021 on lowest post-revolution turnout ~48.8% (after Guardian Council disqualifications of reformist candidates). Principlist bloc retained Majles dominance Mar 2024 on ~41% turnout, lowest ever. Approval collapsed through 2022-2023 Women-Life-Freedom period. Coherence line: resistance-economy + security-forward doctrine unified nuclear leverage, protest suppression, and BRICS pivot, at the cost of currency collapse and delegitimation among urban-middle-class and women's constituencies.