The New Axis: Iran

South Africa’s irrational support for Iran’s regime through thick and thin is so consistent and intense that it may be reasonable to argue that DIRCO has been captured by Iranian interests.

The West isn’t just some geographical indicator or a relic of a bygone era. It is a civilisation that has brought the world the notion that nations should exist for their citizens, and not for their rulers. It is the civilisation that brought accountability, the rule of law, democracy, and human rights.

No other civilisation has truly extended to all its members the idea that everyone is created equal – and that, while flawed, everyone should be given a fair chance.

In the first article of this series discussing the enemies of the West, I discussed Russia and its eternal imperialism. In this article, I will be continuing with perhaps the most openly terrifying of the New Axis powers. A theocracy that treats women as slaves and uses its oil revenue to fund a global terror network.

I am, of course, talking about the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran: The Terror State

Before the 1979 Revolution, Iran had a chance to be something great. It was held back by a corrupt monarch who did seem to have a disconnect from his people. But while the Shah may have lived extravagantly without truly understanding the concerns of mostly the rural poor, he did put in a proper effort to attempt reforms – giving rights to women and opening his country up to innovation and increasing liberties.

The 1979 revolution started as a response to the Shah’s extravagance, but was soon hijacked by religious fundamentalists, who manipulated left-wing and moderate groups to seize power.

What followed the revolution were violent purges and the establishment of a totalitarian state where religious law trumped human rights and human decency.

In January of 2026, the Islamic Republic killed over 30,000 of its own citizens in a brutal crackdown against protesters. This is not the first time Iran, and its ruling class of religious fundamentalists slaughtered protesters.

Women are actively oppressed, required to wear veils and treated as second class citizens. By law, women are considered subordinates and their oppression is enforced through active violence.

Dissent is violently suppressed. Dissidents are punished arbitrarily and tortured profusely. Executions are rife, often occurring after sham trials lasting only minutes. Death penalty charges include non-violent offences and political charges as concerning as “enmity against God”.

Religious minorities such as Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians (native to Iran) are actively oppressed and imprisoned. Ethnic minorities such as the Kurds, Baluchis and Arabs are targeted by security forces.

There is no independent media and censorship is rife. The internet is often shutdown – often preceding mass violence.

There is no separation of judiciary and executive. And the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated a terrorist organisation by the USA, Canada, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Argentina and now the European Union, uses its extrajudicial powers to operate with total impunity to abuse and kill the citizenry.

Iran also operates the largest network of terrorist organisations in the world – actively using proxy armies of terrorists to destabilise and destroy countries. They armed and funded Hezbollah to destroy Lebanon, once a thriving Christian democracy. They funded the Houthis to destroy Yemen. And they funded Hamas to attempt to destroy Israel. All these organisations have also actively harmed countries around the world.

Iran is not merely an authoritarian state with internal abuses. It is a revolutionary regime whose survival depends on repression at home and chaos abroad. Violence is not a failure of the system. It is the system. The same institutions that shoot protesters in Tehran and Mashhad direct terrorist proxies across the Middle East, exporting instability as a matter of doctrine.

It is therefore essential to separate the Iranian regime from the Iranian people. The millions who have repeatedly taken to the streets at enormous personal risk are not enemies of the free world. They are among its most courageous defenders. Women tearing off their veils, students defying clerics, and workers striking in the face of bullets represent a moral struggle that aligns naturally with liberal democratic values, not against them.

To frame opposition to the Islamic Republic as anti-Iranian is both dishonest and immoral. The true betrayal is to excuse or relativise a regime that executes dissidents, enforces gender apartheid, and wages proxy wars across an entire region. Standing with Iranian protesters is not an act of Western imperialism. It is an act of moral consistency.

Iran’s role within the emerging authoritarian axis is clear. It is a terror state, an exporter of violence, and a suppressor of its own people. Any global order in which such a regime gains influence will be neither multipolar nor just. It will be more brutal, more unstable, and far less free.

South Africa and the ANC

Continuing the trend from the ANC’s relationship with Russia, the ANC continues to enjoy a close bond with Tehran due to the perception that the Ayatollah and post-revolutionary Iran supported the ANC in its anti-Apartheid struggle.

In truth, the Ayatollah paid lip service to fighting Apartheid but continued selling oil to the National Party.

But this does not matter to the ANC, who continues to provide diplomatic cover for Iran, helping to cover up their nuclear weapons program, and very likely took Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a part of a lawfare campaign to isolate the Jewish state on behalf of the Islamic Republic. This is after, I must add, Iran enabled Hamas to invade Israel on October 7^th 2023, which caused the Gaza conflict in the first place.

Even when the ANC isn’t openly supporting Iran, members of the South African military are. High-ranking army officials have expressed their support for Iran on unsanctioned visits, and in January 2026, the Navy allowed Iran to participate in naval exercises despite condemnation from President Cyril Ramaphosa himself.

South Africa’s irrational support for Iran’s regime through thick and thin is so consistent and intense that it may be reasonable to argue that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has been captured by Iranian interests.

Conclusion

The Islamic Republic represents another pillar of the New Axis. It breeds chaos throughout the world, fuelling hatred and taking advantage of Russia’s destruction of objective truth through its information warfare to twist narratives to serve its malevolent purposes.

The final power of the New Axis is its strongest. While Iran relies on rapidly dwindling terrorist groups, and may be on the verge of revolution, this final nation perhaps represents the biggest threat to the free world.

The final article of this series will discuss the People’s Republic of China, and how it has used its economic power to already dominate the world.

Nicholas Woode-Smith the Managing Editor of the Rational Standard, an author and a geopolitical analyst. He is a senior associate of the Free Market Foundation and writes in his personal capacity.