Iran’s antisemitism and anti-Zionism: eliminationist or performative?

Combining the Legal and the Social in Sociology of Law

“…Iran's anti-Israel law of 2020 was passed by the Iranian Parliament (the Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majlis) on 18 May that year (Joffre 2020;Nadimi 2021;Rose 2020;Seliktar and Rezaei 2020). Voted for unanimously by the 43 members of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, the law is officially titled 'Countering Israel's Actions' ('Tarhe Moghabele ba Eghdamat Israel').…”

“…Failures in terms of healthcare provision also motivated efforts to clamp down on popular opposition against the Islamist regime (Avraham 2020). Two of the sponsors of the law may have had more immediate ambitions of self-survival, as they were facing charges of corruption and economic fraud (Seliktar and Rezaei 2020). Considering external factors, the law passed at a time when Israel had been stepping up efforts to take up more land in the administered territories.…”

“…From a practical viewpoint, it is unclear if the law can even be enforced, especially because its scope is so broad that it would inevitably affect many Iranians in their routine daily lives. As the law prohibits even indirect forms of contact with Israel, including electronic equipment with components manufactured by companies with branches in Israel, Iranian iPhone users were reportedly alarmed about what the law could mean for the use of their favourite communication device (Seliktar and Rezaei 2020). The only exception that has been granted to an all-out ban on contacts with Israel was an initially planned prohibition on international sports activities involving Israeli athletes.…”

“…Whether political isolation and imposed economic sanctions can help bring about the changes needed for a modernisation and rationalisation of Iran's politics, law, and wider society is not nearly as important as the undeniable reality that any necessary cultural changes, especially in terms of secularisation, must be adopted by the Iranian people themselves. Some observers have argued that Iran's anti-Israel law should not be considered nor feared as an achievement in the autocratic path of Iranian Islamist rule, but instead reflects ongoing chaos within the regime (Seliktar and Rezaei 2020). In view of the increasing voices of dissent Iran has been witnessing, the regime is in any case shown to be lacking in legitimacy, leaving only coercion and highly symbolic laws to sustain its might.…”