The David Lin Report · Friday, August 14, 2026
Trita Parsi suggests that the ongoing conflict with Iran may have inadvertently saved the Islamic Republic. He draws a parallel to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran in 1980, which helped consolidate Khomeini's power.
“I would go as far as to argue that this war may have in some ways saved the Islamic Republic, similarly to how Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran in 1980, uh, attacked Iran at a moment where the revolution was very young and had not fully consolidated, but the war actually enabled Ayatollah Khomeini at the time to consolidate power and in some ways saved the Islamic Republic.”
“Because that external threat enabled them to really clamp down internally, but also getting a rallying around the flag phenomenon that has put him in a very different situation now than they were a couple of months ago.”