The emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) has given birth to new enemies in many countries of the Middle East, but not in Iran: in the Islamic Republic, the enemy has not changed for nearly four decades. Traveling the roads through Kurdish cities in western Iran, billboards, posters and wall graffiti shout the same slogans they always have: “the enemy is in wait”; “the enemy’s goal is to break down our Muslim nation”; “Our last drop of blood should go to saving Islam.” These are strong appeals by the state to the nation, urging people to beware of external threats, to remain united and prepared to sacrifice, at what is perpetually portrayed as “this time of great crisis.” But who is the enemy? And if there is more than one, who are they? Most Iranians who spoke to Rudaw English had little doubt. “Israel and America,” parroted Abdulla, a middle-aged taxi driver who hauls passengers between Piranshahr and Mahabad. As he sat behind the wheel of his battered taxi and a female radio voice reported the closing of another massive military exercise that Iran periodically showcases for the world, Abdulla was sure that only America or Israel could hurt his country. For him, the danger is not from the ISIS militants who have been wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria, and have recently been flexing more muscle in Turkey with bomb attacks. “Daesh can pose no threat to a powerful country like Iran,” opined Abdulla, referring to ISIS by its derogatory Arabic name. Unlike Iraq and Syria, where news of Daesh pops up frequently in conversations, Iranians express less concern about the radical group. “I may pay attention to news about Daesh once a week or even twice a month,” said Ali Ahmadi, an unemployed 20-year-old looking for his first job. “We only talk about them with friends occasionally when the group does very stupid things.” In his opinion, “America can attack us as they attacked Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein, but Daesh can never touch Iran.” Rahman Sheikhi, an Iranian student of sociology, told Rudaw he believed that ISIS can only function in “failed states like Syria and Iraq.” “They can’t touch Iran which, unlike Syria and Iraq, is a powerful state with a powerful military,” Sheikhi explained. “I don’t hate Americans or even the American government. For me, Israel is our enemy.” Daesh may not be attacking Iranian borders. Nevertheless, Iranian troops and advisors are known to be present both in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq they back the Shiite-led government and in Syria Tehran has military advisors and forces fighting on the side of embattled President Bashar al-Assad. The perception that the United States and Israel remain Iran’s top enemies was hammered into the nation by the late revolutionary patriarch, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Islamic Republic he left behind after his death in 1989 faithfully continues to toe Khomeini’s line. The commander of Iran’s ground forces Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said in April that ISIS is not a force large enough to threaten Iran. “Our main enemy is the United States and we prepare ourselves in proportion to that,” he said at a funeral in Tehran for one of the Iranian soldiers killed in Syria. Khalid Azizi, the general secretary of the dissident Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) agreed that ISIS does not pose a “real threat” to Iran. “Daesh sleeper cells are not active inside Iran and they are not a threat to Iran’s borders,” he told Rudaw English on the sidelines of a presentation in Erbil. Azizi said this is not necessarily because Iran remains so strong, but also because of ISIS’s current plans and targets of focusing on Iraq and Syria. He explained that portraying Israel and America as the greatest enemies “works best for the Islamic Republic of Iran.” “Promoting Israel and America as two main enemies of Iran began at the very beginning of the Iranian Islamic revolution, and they (the ruling clerics) continue to encourage this policy,” Azizi explained. “The Iranian government needs to force this policy down the people’s throats to keep up anti-Western sentiments.” At periodic rallies organized every year, Iranians are reminded to chant the “death to America” and “down with Israel” slogans that have become the mottos of the revolution. Even the historical nuclear deal signed with United States early this year has done little to weaken official hostility against America – or The Great Satan, the name Khomeini gave to the United States. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, continued to defend his country’s political lexicon toward the US after the nuclear agreement. “The slogan ‘death to America’ is backed by reason and wisdom,” the 76-year-old ayatollah said in remarks published on his official website. In 2015 the slogan of “death to America” was erased for the first time from the wall of former US embassy and the news was wildly reported by international news organizations and some Iranian local agencies. But two days later the slogan was back – albeit in a new font. Iran’s student Basij organization released a statement at the time, insisting that the slogans were never removed. “The slogan of death to America will forever decorate the wall of that place (the former US embassy),” the Basij vowed in a statement.
