Abstract

Introduction. The author analyzes the features of the ideological confrontation and conflict between Iranian emigrant communities and the political elites of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The position of Iranian emigration is analyzed in the context of the activity of the Pahlavi dynasty representatives. The purpose of the article is to analyze the ideo- logical confrontation between the two projects of Iranian political identities in contexts of criticism of the clerical regime of Iran by representatives of the Iranian political emigration of Pahlavi dynasty. Methods. Methodologically, the article is based on the principles of analyzing intellectual communities with the elements of the universal method of his- toricism and a comparative approach, which make it possible to identify and systematize the main features of the process of ideological confrontation between the Iranian elites and their critics from the Iranian political monarchist emigration. Scientific novelty of the study. On the one hand, the article analyzes the ideological confrontation between the clerical political regime of Iran and its critics from the communities of monarchical emi- gration as a state of remote or delayed conflict. On the other hand, the author analyzes this ideological controversy as a conflict not between society and power, but between two versions of political power: if the Iranian regime controls the political discourse in the country in fact, then its monarchist oppo- nents in exile attribute to it symbolic legitimacy and continuity with the tradition of Iranian statehood. Results. The main directions and features of criticism of the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran by Iranian political emigrants of a monarchist orientation are analyzed; features of political ideol- ogy are shown; the forecast of the development of the political activity of the Iranian emigration is presented. Conclusions. The author believes that 1) the mo- narchical Iranian emigration is one of the centers of attraction for emigrants from Iran in Western Europe and North America; 2) the ideologists and theorists of the monarchical emigration are consist- ent critics of the political regime established in Iran in 1979; 3) criticism of the clerical, anti-secular and undemocratic regime of Tehran, its accusations of violating human rights and freedoms in in the cen- tre of the political doctrine of the Iranian emigra- tion; 4) the political ideal of emigration is a secular and democratic Iran, where rights and freedoms are respected, and religious minorities have equal rights with the Shiite Iranian majority.