The Islamic Republic of Iran is actually Islamic, which explains a lot of their behavior. People ask why Iran accepted a ceasefire, but the Quran says, “If they desist, then let there be no hostility, except towards aggressors.” People ask why Iran doesn't just build a nuke, but as the Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Our Islamic thinking says that a weapon which is used for killing civilians, non-military people and ordinary people is forbidden.” People ask as if Iran knows how the world works, and they do, but the Quran says, “the life of this world is nothing but a means of deception.” The Islamic Republic believes in a higher judgement, and acts accordingly. As Allah said,

Every human being is bound to taste death: and you shall receive your rewards in full on the Day of Resurrection. He who is kept away from the Fire and is admitted to Paradise, will surely triumph; for the life of this world is nothing but an illusory enjoyment.

You will surely be tried and tested in your possessions and your persons, and you shall surely hear many hurtful things from those who were given the Book before you and from those who set up partners with God, but if you endure with fortitude and restrain yourselves, that indeed is a matter of strong determination.

Islamic Principles

Whereas 'Israelis' think they're the chosen people, Iran believes that they are people who must choose, and who are judged accordingly. The Quran isn't talking about the modern state of 'Israel', but it sure rhymes when it says,

Remember when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, ‘Worship none but God and be good to your parents and to relatives and orphans and the needy. And speak kindly to people. Attend to your prayers and pay the zakat [prescribed alms].’ But with the exception of a few, you turned away [in aversion] and paid no heed. When We made a covenant with you, We said, ‘You shall not shed each other’s blood, nor turn your people out of their homes.’ You consented to this and bore witness.

Yet, here you are, slaying one another and driving some of your own people from their homelands, aiding one another against them, committing sin and aggression; but if they came to you as captives, you would ransom them. Surely their very expulsion was unlawful for you. Do you believe in one part of the Book and deny another part of it? Those of you who act thus shall be rewarded with disgrace in this world and with a severe punishment on the Day of Resurrection. God is never unaware of what you do.

Jews live in Iran and were given refuge in Palestine, but Jewish supremacists took over, allied with the people that genocided or denied them, and corrupted the whole bunch. There is no sense of moral duty among the 'Israelis', only an immoral entitlement, just because of who they are, not what they do. This contrasts dramatically with the Iranian view, which is that duties are to be kept even to your immediate detriment. The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed this sentiment before the Islamic Revolution in a 1974 sermon. He said,

Moral duties are not just for religious seasons. They are not for sometimes. They do not apply one day but not another. They do not apply to one person but not another. Duties are perpetual, universal and eternal. The Qur'an rebukes the Israelites for saying on one occasion ‘our brethren must be protected' but on another, when it suited their personal interests, making war on these same brothers, killing them, taking them prisoner, enslaving them, selling them and looting their property, The Qur'an says: 'What! Do you believe in part of the Book and defy another part?' Do you believe in part of the religion? Are you faithful and moral when it is easy and convenient, and then at other times you are faithless? Is this even possible? Can you really separate one command from another and one duty from another, even when these are both from the same source and the same Lord?

People misunderstand Ayatollah Khamenei's current role as Supreme Leader. His job is to keep the Islamic State in line with Islamic principles, not to run the state, line by line. Khamenei actually exercises frustratingly little direct control over the elected government. For example, in February 2025, Khamenei said, “One must not negotiate with a government like the US government,” but the reformist President Pezeshkian did it anyways, and got their negotiator nearly killed. That's a choice the Iranian government is empowered to make, unlike America, run by one man's supremely idiotic tweets. The Supreme Leader is really the principal of the principle, not an all-powerful potentate.

The Islamic principles that guide the Islamic State are to do the right thing even when no one is watching, even when you could gain from wrong and get away with it, because someone is watching and you won't get away with it. Again, this is the difference between thinking you're the chosen people and thinking that your choices matter. As the Quran says in its second surah, again speaking directly to today,

God has sealed their hearts and their ears, and over their eyes there is a covering. They will have a terrible punishment. There are some who say, ‘We believe in God and the Last Day,’ yet they are not believers. They seek to deceive God and the believers, but they only deceive themselves, though they do not realize it. In their hearts is a disease, which God has increased. They will have a painful punishment, because they have been lying. When they are told, ‘Do not cause corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are only promoters of peace,’ but it is they who are really causing corruption, though they do not realize it.

This spreading of corruption in the land is indeed what the Great Satan (America) does. Everywhere from Korea to Vietnam to Afghanistan to Ukraine to 'Israel' they prop up corrupt people and call them beacons of Democracy™. Netanyahu is almost comically corrupt and keeps delaying his corruption trial dates by imposing greater trials on innocent Palestinians, Iranians, and his own people. He's always one step ahead of the law in his lawlessness. Khamenei understands this corrupting policy quite clearly because his philosophy is deep-rooted in Islam. As he said in 2024,

The insistence of the US and its allies on ensuring the safety of the usurping regime serves as a cover for their lethal policy of changing the [Zionist] regime into a tool for seizing all the resources of this region and using it [that regime] in major global conflicts. Their policy is to turn the [Zionist] regime into a gateway for exporting energy from the region to the Western world while facilitating the import of goods and technology from the West to the region. This [approach] ensures the survival of the usurping regime and increases the entire region's dependency on it. The [Zionist] regime's brutal, reckless behavior toward the [Resistance] fighters stems from its self-serving desire for such a situation.

This reality helps us to realize that every blow to the Zionist regime by any individual or group is not only a service to the entire region but to all of humanity. Surely, this Zionist and American dream is a vain, unattainable delusion. The [Zionist] regime is like “an evil tree, uprooted from the ground,” which according to God's true words, “lacks any stability” (Quran 14:26).

This is the best summary of the current geopolitics you'll get, because it's rooted in a much deeper understanding. If you read the Quran and these peoples words directly (as I invite you to) Islam is obviously a coherent philosophy, a cogent system of ethics, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is imminently predictable and rational. They have a belief system and they stick to it. For example, when people ask why Iran accepted a ceasefire when 'Israel's' defenses were weeks away from collapsing, there is a Quranic answer to this (and also more questions).

Ceasefire Or Hellfire?

Warfare in the Quran is strictly defensive. It says quite clearly, “And fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression—for surely, God does not love aggressors.” Also, “if they keep away from you and cease their hostility and propose peace to you, God does not allow you to harm them.” These are, of course, quotes from a particular context, taken out of context, and thus prone to much interpretation in the current context.

For example, when did the Carbon Crusades start, and have they ever stopped? October 7th is called an offensive attack by the most offensive people, but is it? As Hamas said in Our Narrative: Operation Al Aqsa Flood, “The battle of the Palestinian people against occupation and colonialism did not start on Oct. 7, but started 105 years ago, including 30 years of British colonialism and 75 years of Zionist occupation.” When you're in long cycles of violence borne out of a long occupation, a lot depends on where you start the clock.

Another question is who, exactly, is being aggressed against? Ansarallah Commander Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi consistently says (and acts) that, “The battle from Gaza to Iran is one battle, one cause, one Ummah, facing a single "Israeli" enemy backed by a Western front that seeks to subjugate and control our nation.” His people's movement, Ansar Allah consistently says, “We will never abandon our brothers in Gaza, and we will not allow this criminal, U.S.-backed entity to carry out its schemes in the region.” For these reasons, which are also Quranic, Yemen has consistently refused a ceasefire. They said there will be no separate peace in the Red Sea until the starvation siege of Gaza is lifted. And acted accordingly.

The final philosophical question is where is the aggression happening? al-Houthi refers to a larger nation than his own, echoing the martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who said, “we consider all borders throughout the Muslim world as fake and colonialist, and therefore doomed to disappear.” Thus Nasrallah said (this in 1986), “in order for this project to be realized, priority should be given to removing Israel from the scene, because it was established for the express purpose of dividing and partitioning the Muslim world. We are not only against the partition of Lebanon, but also against the partition of the Muslim world; this explains why we see no alternative to fighting Israel, with all means at our disposal, until it ceases to exist. Then we will attend to following [certain] steps.” Nasrallah dead now, but the dream of undividing and unconquering the Muslim world lives on.

Hamas quite explicitly ties themselves to this cause, specifically linking their immediate rebellion to ongoing violations at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem), which concerns all Muslims. There are many Quranic injunctions to protect holy places (of all Abrahamic faiths) and “Fight them until there is no more fitna [religious persecution] and religion belongs to God alone. If they desist, then let there be no hostility, except towards aggressors.”

How do you ceasefire in this expanded context, when Palestinians are still being burnt alive, when Al Aqsa is still occupied and defiled (they wear shoes in there!) and when the ummah is so humiliated and divided? It would seem that permission to fight is given by all the transgressions, whether or not they transgress across one artificial border or another. As the Quran says,

Permission to fight is granted to those who are attacked, because they have been wronged—God indeed has the power to help them—they are those who have been driven out of their homes unjustly, only because they said, ‘Our Lord is God.’ If God did not repel the aggression of some people by means of others, cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of God is much invoked, would surely be destroyed. God will surely help him who helps His cause—God is indeed powerful and mighty.

Iran's True Promise operations, however, have only been in response to violations of Iran's borders. They help the Resistance certainly, but only to help themselves, they don't get directly involved. Yemen and Palestine never criticize them for this, so I won't, but I do have questions. At some level, I think that Iran knows that the ceasefire is only temporary, and that they haven't turned their back on the enemy entirely. Except as a stratagem of war. The consequences of truly ceasing fire against such an evil is hellfire. As the Quran says,

Believers, when you meet in battle those who deny the truth, never turn your backs on them: whoever turns his back on such an occasion, unless it be as a stratagem of war, or in an endeavour to join another group [of the believers] will indeed draw down upon himself the wrath of God, and Hell shall be his abode and the worst indeed is that destination.

Nukes Or Nah?

A lot of observers from within the Resistance think Iran should just get nukes already. I'd argue that they already have the ability to assemble a dirty bomb and probably have a dead hand protocol accordingly, which has the same MAD effect (mutually assured destruction). However, the realpolitik lesson many have learned from the destruction of Libya and the survival of North Korea is that nukes are the only guarantee of safety. Iran has learned the hard way that international institutions like the IAEA are corrupted when they snitched to 'Israel', getting scientists and their families killed. This may seem naivety, but it is more piety. The Islamic Republic is motivated not by realpolitik but real religion.

Nukes actually are evil and bad and Khamenei has issued what's broadly called a fatwa against them, expressed in his Message to International Conference on Nuclear Disarmament 17/04/2010.

We believe that besides nuclear weapons, other types of weapons of mass destruction such as chemical and biological weapons also pose a serious threat to humanity. The Iranian nation which is itself a victim of chemical weapons feels more than any other nation the danger that is caused by the production and stockpiling of such weapons and is prepared to make use of all its facilities to counter such threats. We consider the use of such weapons as haraam and believe that it is everyone's duty to make efforts to secure humanity against this great disaster.

Khamenei has said this many different ways, that “Our Islamic thinking says that a weapon which is used for killing civilians, non-military people and ordinary people is forbidden. It is forbidden whether they are nuclear or chemical weapons.” The corrupters of the land corrupt language as well, but Iran is actually the clearest and most ethical non-proliferator in the world. The White Empire (US, 'Israel', no difference) keeps threatening them with nukes (every accusation is a confession) and Khamenei has also said Islam is not just sitting there and taking it. As he said in 1974,

This is how many Muslims see the world today: They think having faith means to take a beating! To be a Muslim, to be a believer, to be striving in the way of God, means suffering, means persecution, means oppression. The Qur'an wants to say the opposite is true—that from the moment religion came into being it was always moving forwards, it was always advancing, it was never going backwards.

Hence the nuclear program goes forwards, with Iran's government rightly banning the corrupted IAEA, voting to leave the NPT (not approved yet), and preserving its nuclear program at great cost. As with fires and ceasefires, however, you can see that Iran's policy is reactive, which can be frustrating until you see that it's Quranic. I guess you have to give even evil people a chance, or else become evil and lose that which is more valuable. What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul, as Abrahamism 2.0 says.

Judgement

Of course, none of this makes sense if you think the only point is winning. In that case, just do whatever, however, and damn the consequences. It's only a crime if you get caught. The Americans said they'd be considered war criminals if they lost World War II, and have approached their continuing wars on the world with the same sense of immorality.

But the Islamic Republic is concerned with consequences, not in this life but the hereafter. Jihad against oppressors is actually the lesser jihad, the greater one is the struggle against yourself. The consequences of failing in the lesser jihad are just temporal, whereas failing in the greater jihad is an eternal loss. The Quran says this over and over. This is really the essence of Islam (really all religions of the book), belief in Allah and a Day of Judgement. Damn the consequences and you are damned, consequently.

In the Quranic sense, this life is but a test, and there's no cheating because the proctor is omniscient. As Allah said, “Every soul shall taste death; We test you with both good and evil [circumstances] as a trial. To Us you shall return.” This is hard to understand for people without understanding. The realpolitik theory is that every country is interchangeable and behaves out of their own self-interest, ie game theory. But Islam isn't playing around. As the Quran says, “the life of this world is nothing but an illusory enjoyment.” It also says, “that which they spend in pursuit of the life of this world is like a biting frosty blast which smites the harvest of a people who have wronged themselves, and destroys it. God is not unjust to them; they are unjust to their own souls.”

This view is actually common to all religions. In my Buddhism the idea is that life is illusion and in my wife's Christianity, that one should store up their treasure in Heaven. I daresay it's common because it's true. This life is bullshit, the wicked get rewarded for all sorts of mischief, but that's not what really matters. That's not what makes a person good. All religions converge on this point, that this life is trifling and there's something higher calling to you. We'll leave that discussion for another time (maybe next lifetime), but suffice it to say, the Islamic theory of war is not about winning in this world but the next one. Victory in this world is second best by a long shot. Better to lose with honor than dishonor yourself eternally. As the Quran says,

Let those who would exchange the life of this world for the Hereafter, fight for the cause of God; whoever fights for the cause of God, whether he is slain or is victorious, to him We shall give a great reward.

And how should you not fight for the cause of God, and for the helpless old men, women, and children who say, ‘Deliver us, Lord, from this city of wrongdoers, grant us a protector out of Your grace and grant us a supporter out of Your grace?’

The believers fight for the cause of God, while those who reject faith fight for Satan. Then fight the allies of Satan: Satan’s scheming is truly weak.

You can say, bro, this is made up, this doesn't work, fight with all your claws and teeth, survival of the shittest. But again consider the context, when you're fighting, who you're fighting to be, and where you're fighting. What are you fighting for is more important than how you fight, so why would you lose it by fighting dirty? Thus despite the “hurtful things from those who were given the Book before you [the Jews] and from those who set up partners with God [the capitalist Americans],” it is admirable that the Islamic Resistance persists in fighting the Islamic way. And, indeed, I think that ethics is the safest and best behavior in the long run, which seems to be approaching apace.

Though it seems like the worst people on earth are constantly ‘getting away with it’, are they? 'Israel' effectively collapsed on October 7th and has been on imperial death support ever since. The founder of Hamas said they'd be gone by 2027 and I believe it. America, meanwhile, has been in a long retreat since Korea really, though they rage, rage against the dying of the white. This trial by White Empire has been centuries for us humans, but what is that to God? As the Quran says, “On the Day when they see it, they will feel as if they had tarried in this world for only one evening or one morning.” Also as the Quran says, “And they schemed but God also schemed and God is the Best of Schemers” and “Let them laugh a little and weep much in return for their misdeeds.”

This feels hard to see under military censorship of the White Empire (because they make it hard to see), but they are taking hits too, and deep. As the Quran says, “Do not relent in the pursuit of the enemy. If you are suffering hardships, they too are suffering similar hardships, but what you can hope for from God, they cannot. God is all knowing and wise.”

Allah (just the Arabic word for God, I use them interchangeably) doesn't say when we'll finally get relief, but who are we to hurry God? Rushing God is the whole reason for the abomination of 'Israel' according to Torah Jews, the messiah is supposed to create 'Israel', not the Great Satan. The eschatological problem is the clasping at worldly things, thinking that the means justify the ends and becoming cursedly cruel.

The real point is not the end point, which is out of our hands, but the person you become in the striving, which is all we can grasp of God's plan. It's all a test, really, and most of us fail it. As Allah said, “We have adorned the earth with attractive things, so that We may test mankind as to which one is best in conduct, but We shall reduce all this to barren waste.” I mean, can't you see it now, with each year hotter than the last? The wicked are fighting over oil while the same oil ignites the entire climate. As the Quran says, “if one desires the rewards of this world, We shall grant it to him; and if one desires the rewards of the life to come, We shall grant it to him. We will reward the grateful.”

The Religion Of Liberation

I've heard it said that Islam is a religion of peace, but that's a mistranslation. As Kwame Ture said, “That’s the white man’s word, ‘peace.’ Liberation is our word.” Islam is a religion of liberation, of justice, in this world or the next, with the next being far more important. As the Quran says,

There are some who say, ‘Our Lord, give us abundance in this world.’ These shall have no share in the world to come. But there are others who pray, ‘Our Lord, grant us good in this world as well as good in the world to come, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.’ They shall have a good share from what they have earned. God is swift in His reckoning.

‘Swift’ seems an overstatement, but that stems from our lack of understanding. Think how much further away liberation seemed during the centuries of colonization, and yet people still fought for it. Think how far it still seemed in the last 75 years of cruel occupation, and yet people still bore it and kept resisting. This is actually the most hopeful point in Palestinian history, every point before was further away from liberation. And yet people still believed, and still acted, even when it seemed hopeless. Because they had faith, and faith is eternal. As the Quran says, and as the Resistance recites over the body of every martyr,

Do not say that those who are killed in God’s cause are dead; they are alive, but you are not aware of it. We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives and crops. Give good news to those who endure with fortitude.

This is the good news buried beneath the bad news created by the worst people. Liberation is coming, hopefully short of Judgement Day (I'm not ready). We are nearing the moment the Resistance has steadfastly worked towards over generations (God helps those who help themselves), we are ‘on the road to Al-Quds’ as they say. The Iranians freed themselves decades ago and have helped the Palestinians, Lebanese, and Yemenis fight for their freedom over decades. I don't know exactly what they're doing, but they're doing it and I'm not doing shit, how can I second guess them? I merely try to understand them, which is impossible without understanding their religion. The Islamic Resistance really is Islamic, that's how they're resisting, and if you have questions I encourage you to read the Quran, it's quite enlightening. As the Resistance always says, Allah is sufficient for them, and as God says, “We are sufficient as a reckoner.”