Why the Iranian Regime Endures

UANI Senior Advisor Saeid Golkar writes: As Iran enters 2026, the current unrest represents not a temporary eruption but part of a long struggle against an entrenched security state. While popular demands for dignity, freedom, and accountability continue to grow, the regime’s sophisticated coercive apparatus remains firmly in place. Any meaningful transformation will require confronting this deeply embedded architecture. Without a strategy capable of neutralizing the state’s coercive power and overcoming opposition fragmentation, the prospect of democratic change remains distant. The struggle continues, but the balance of power still favors a regime that has perfected the art of survival.