Why Iran Is Unraveling: Protest, Repression, and the Crisis of Power

By Roozbeh Mirebrahimi

Why Iran Is Unraveling examines how the Islamic Republic arrived at its most profound crisis of legitimacy since 1979-not through a single revolutionary moment, but through decades of suppressing popular movements that sought reform, accountability, and dignity.

From student protests in 1999 to the Green Movement of 2009, from economically driven uprisings in 2017 and 2019 to the women-led revolt of 2022 and the nationwide unrest of 2025, the Iranian state repeatedly responded to social pressure with repression rather than reform. Each crackdown restored control in the short term. Each also weakened the foundations of governance, trust, and consent.

Drawing on historical analysis, protest data, and firsthand observation, this book traces how the systematic silencing of dissent hollowed out state institutions, radicalized society, and transformed protest from episodic unrest into a permanent condition. It shows why authoritarian resilience in Iran has come at an increasing cost-and why the very tools designed to ensure survival are now pushing the system toward breakdown.

Clear-eyed and deeply contextualized, Iran at the Brink offers readers an essential framework for understanding the ongoing uprising in Iran and the broader question it raises for authoritarian regimes everywhere: how long can a state endure when it governs against its own society?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0985374845
• ISBN13: 9780985374846
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Free Quill
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"