1979 Revolution Legacy and 2026 Regime Change: Ideology, Strategy, Response

This study examines the enduring legacy of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and its influence on the 2026 movement for regime change, focusing on ideology, strategy, and state response. It argues that the revolutionary ideals institutionalized after 1979 particularly anti-imperialism, religious legitimacy, and centralized authority continue to shape both opposition mobilization and state behavior decades later. Drawing on a synthesis of quantitative protest data and qualitative analyses of political discourse, the study compares the organizational strategies, ideological narratives, and mobilization patterns of the 1979 revolution with those evident in the 2026 movement, highlighting key continuities and divergences. While the 2026 movement reflects more decentralized, digitally mediated, and socially diverse forms of resistance, the state response demonstrates persistent reliance on coercion, ideological framing, and institutional control rooted in the revolutionary experience. The findings suggest that the 1979 revolutionary legacy functions simultaneously as a source of legitimacy for the state and as a contested reference point for contemporary challengers, shaping the trajectory and limits of regime change efforts.