For Mehdi Ghadimi, the ideology underpinning Iran’s governance is not just a philosophical concept. It is a doctrine he has been familiar with since his early years.
“You were told you are part of a small group chosen by God to revive His religion and defend it,” Ghadimi, an Iranian journalist, explained in an interview with Fox News Digital. This narrative, he said, was a constant presence in educational settings, religious venues, and state-controlled media.
This early indoctrination painted a vivid picture of the world as a battleground between good and evil, with Iran’s leaders cast as the central figures in a divine mission. It was a perspective that left little room for ambiguity or dissent.
While Iran’s political structure is often analyzed in conventional terms, critics and former insiders argue that its essence is deeply rooted in religious extremism. It is a belief system characterized by religious absolutism, messianic expectations, and a rigid worldview that is resistant to compromise.
In Tehran, on March 14, 2026, a banner prominently displayed Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, alongside senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), illustrating the enduring connection between religious leadership and military power. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu)
As a new generation of commanders rises within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following recent military blows under Operation Epic Fury, analysts warn that this ideology may become even more entrenched.
Figures such as Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Ahmad Vahidi are often cited as part of a cohort shaped by years of conflict in Iraq and across the region — one that sees religion, security and survival as inseparable.
A belief system, not just a government
At the center of that worldview is the belief in the Mahdi — a messianic figure in Shiite Islam whose return is expected to usher in a final era of justice after chaos.
Twelver Shiism is the dominant belief for Shias, the Mahdi, identified as the 12th Imam, is alive but hidden and will one day return. Iran’s political system positions the supreme leader as his caretaker.
Critics say that framework gives political authority a religious dimension that can make it difficult to challenge.
Primary school girls in traditional headscarves sit in a classroom, Tehran, Iran, Oct. 1, 1997. (Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
“For the mullahs in Iran, the Mahdi idea is less about personal faith and more about power,” said Lisa Daftari, foreign policy analyst and editor-in-chief at The Foreign Desk. “They use it to suggest that the supreme leader’s views are not just political opinions, but carry a kind of divine weight.”
“The system is set up so that disagreeing with the leader can be portrayed as questioning the Hidden Imam himself,” she said.
“That turns ordinary policy debates into something almost untouchable… you’re no longer arguing with a politician, you’re seen as pushing back against a sacred figure.”
Commanders and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Aug. 17, 2023. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA/Reuters)
No real moderates
Ghadimi argues that this structure leaves little room for genuine political diversity.
“Groups labeled as ‘moderate,’ ‘reformist,’ or ‘pro-Western’ are created so that the West can negotiate with them,” he said.
“No one within the structure of the Islamic Republic thinks about anything other than defeating the Western world and establishing Islamic dominance globally.”
From belief to action
For Iran expert Daftari, the Mahdi doctrine also provides a flexible justification for policy.
“A lot of insiders know perfectly well that this language is being used strategically,” she said. “The Mahdi story gives the leadership a way to claim moral and religious cover for decisions that are often about preserving the regime or expanding its reach.”
“When they talk about ‘preparing the ground’ for the Mahdi, that phrase can be stretched to cover almost anything — crushing protests, backing militias abroad or asking people to accept more economic pain.”
“This religious framing makes compromise much harder,” she added. “If you convince your base that you are carrying out a holy mission… backing down can be painted as a betrayal of God’s plan.”
A billboard depicting Iran’s supreme leaders since 1979 is displayed above a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026. (AFP/Via Getty Images)
A worldview shaped early
Ghadimi said that message is reinforced from childhood, shaping how generations understand their role in society.
In schools, media and mosques, he said, ideology was embedded into everyday life, leaving little space for alternative narratives.
That framing, analysts say, helps explain how the system sustains itself even under pressure.
It also contributes to a worldview in which conflict is not temporary, but part of a larger, ongoing struggle.
“The Islamic government, based on its own interpretation of the Quran, considers itself obligated to enforce Islamic law across the entire world,” Ghadimi told Fox News Digital, adding that the regime “sees itself as the leader of this belief globally.”
“They harbor hatred toward Iranians and Jews, whom they regard as enemies of Islam since its very beginning, and they consider killing them—such as on Oct. 7 and in the recent killings in Iran — to be divinely rewarded acts, much like the beliefs once held by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” he said.
“No one within the structure of the Islamic Republic thinks about anything other than defeating the Western world and establishing Islamic dominance globally,” Ghadimi said.
In that framework, critics say, Iran is not simply pursuing national interests but acting within what it sees as a broader religious mandate.
In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stands as air force commanders salute during their meeting in Tehran, Feb. 7, 2017. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/AP)
Violence and belief
Some critics argue that within this framework, violence can take on religious meaning.
“They consider killing them… to be divinely rewarded acts,” Ghadimi said.
Still, analysts say the combination of messianic belief and absolutist ideology creates a system in which confrontation is not only expected, but justified.
A cycle with no easy exit
An Iranian official rejected those characterizations and warned that economic collapse and destruction caused by war could drive long-term resentment.
“If a country is turned into ruins, poverty spreads. Out of such poverty comes hatred, resentment and a desire for revenge, and this cycle of hostility can continue for years. It is not correct to think that everything will simply end the day after a ceasefire. Even if there were no hostile government left in place, people within society who have lost everything may still be driven to seek retribution.”
For Ghadimi, the issue is not just how Iran behaves, but how it understands itself.
People gather in Revolution Square to mourn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 in a joint Israel-U.S. operation, in Tehran, Iran, on March 1, 2026. (Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
If the system is rooted in a belief that blends religion, power and mission, critics say, then policies like repression at home and confrontation abroad may not be temporary tactics but structural features.
And if moderation within that system is limited, as some argue, then the challenge for policymakers is not simply negotiation, but understanding the ideology that drives it.
