Paul Smith

Introduction — The Lie That Bought the Regime Time   For more than two decades, one word delayed accountability in Iran: reform. The reformist illusion in Iran has long been presented as a pathway to gradual change. This article examines how the myth of moderation stabilised the Islamic Republic’s coercive structure and ultimately enabled mass

How the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Became the Engine of Organised Repression and Transnational Terror   Introduction — When a Military Becomes the Engine of a Regime The IRGC terror organisation Europe designation is not merely a diplomatic decision; it is a long-delayed recognition of a structure that functions as the primary engine of repression

How an Unelected Figure Built Wealth, Influence, and Succession Without Accountability   Introduction — The Invisible Centre of Power   There are two types of power in authoritarian systems. The first is visible. It has a title, an office, and a formal mandate. It appears in constitutions, decrees and state television broadcasts. The second is

Introduction: The Judge Who Turned Law Into a Weapon In functioning legal systems, the judiciary exists to restrain power. In the Islamic Republic, it exists to execute it.   For over four decades, Iran’s judiciary has not acted as an independent arbiter of law, but as a central instrument of repression, issuing legality to violence,

Introduction — Naming the Defendant   This article is not another account of violence in Iran, nor a repetition of what has already been documented in the January 2026 Mass Killings Report or the legal analysis on Ali Khamenei and Crimes Against Humanity. It begins where those works necessarily end. At a certain point, describing

A Comparative Analysis of State Violence Against Its Own Population   Introduction: Why Definitions Matter When Mass Killing Occurs   When a state kills its own population, language is not neutral. It becomes a battleground. The words used to describe mass killing are not merely descriptive; they determine responsibility, urgency, and consequence. To call systematic

Introduction: Why Definitions Matter When Mass Killing Occurs   When a state kills its own population at scale, language is no longer neutral. The words chosen to describe such violence do not merely reflect reality; they actively shape whether that reality is confronted, diluted, or normalised. In the aftermath of mass killings, especially those carried

A Human Rights Report on the January 2026 Mass Killings in Iran This report is based on open-source evidence, eyewitness testimony, medical documentation, and publicly available material. Due to the risk of retaliation, some sources remain anonymous.   SECTION I — EXECUTIVE CONTEXT: A STATE BUILT ON VIOLENCE The Architecture of Killing in the Islamic

Introduction — Laundering Violence: How the Islamic Republic Outsources Its Survival to Western Lobby Networks   The Islamic Republic does not survive on repression alone. Batons, bullets, prisons, and executions may silence dissent inside Iran, but they cannot neutralise accountability beyond its borders. For that, the regime relies on a quieter, more insidious infrastructure: Western-based

Introduction — Repression Does Not Survive Alone   The Islamic Republic’s survival in the face of nationwide protest is often explained as a function of internal repression: batons, bullets, prisons, and fear. This explanation is incomplete. Authoritarian violence does not operate in a vacuum. It requires tolerance, accommodation, and silence beyond national borders. What is