The emergence of fundamentalism stems from a multitude of factors, including social and historical circumstances, as well as policies pursued by the international community. Maryam Rajavi views

Maryam Rajavi views

Major developments in the twentieth century in their own right impacted the formation and rapid advance of fundamentalism. But none has been as determinative as the rise to power of the reactionary mullahs in Iran.

 This is particularly the case because the ruling regime in Iran offered, for the first time, a model for fundamentalist groups to follow, the very groups who have now become the source of terrorism and war in the Middle East region and elsewhere.

But is the emergence of fundamentalism, as some assert, a face-off between the Islamic world and the West; or more specifically, is this a confrontation between Islam on the one hand, and Christianity and Judaism on the other?
Indeed no! In reality, the crux of the conflict is not between Islam and Christianity.

 Nor is it between Islam and the West, and nor between the Shia and the Sunni. The conflict is over freedom versus subjugation and dictatorship, between equality on the one hand and oppression and misogyny on the other.