Rooz

Security Memo Identifies Threats to Islamic Republic

Esfandiar Saffari - 2007.12.03

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The political division of the Revolutionary Guards published a report titled "Looming Damages ‎and Threats," stating that "active cultural movements in the country are capable of damaging and ‎threatening the regime's ideological foundations." ‎

The Revolutionary Guards memorandum lists "feminists," "supporters of religious pluralism," ‎‎"dervishes and Sufis," "radical modernist movements," "Bahaiis," and "devil worshippers" as ‎‎"threats" to the regime. It also singles out non-governmental organizations (NGO's) as the most ‎significant element capable of instigating civil unrest and threatening the country's security. ‎

Noting that "poverty, corruption and discrimination" are central to the country's cultural and ‎social vulnerability, the memorandum claims that the triangle of poverty, corruption and ‎discrimination has given rise to a series of problems that threaten the stability of the Islamic ‎regime, despite the supreme leader's repeated warnings. ‎

The memorandum identifies social corruption as a weakness of the Islamic Republic, stating, ‎‎"although the increase in the youth population contributes to this corruption, its getting out of ‎hand can pose serious related problems to the regime." ‎

The memorandum adds, "According to available reports, the youth comprise a majority of the ‎prison population in Iran," and "the spread of addiction among society's youth has created ‎serious concerns among the regime's officials."‎

The Revolutionary Guards memorandum attributes all or almost all of problems and threats to ‎the "activities of cultural movements." In one place, it states, "Active cultural movements in the ‎country are capable of inflicting harm and threatening the regime's ideological foundations. ‎Even though these movements do not have mass followings, their activity level and potential ‎makes them threatening." ‎

The memorandum's authors have written a short description for each threatening movement. For ‎feminists, they write, "the feminist movement has grown rapidly in recent years. Identifying ‎themselves as Islamic feminists, feminists are seriously pursuing Iran's joining of the UN ‎Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women." ‎

The memorandum identifies NGO's as agents of regime change: "It is needless to say that in ‎Iran's new political situation, the strategy of civil disobedience or civil resistance is pursued more ‎seriously by opponents of the regime and is currently the most important option for instigating ‎regime change." ‎

The report adds, "Challenging the political ideology has a long history and has been pursued ‎more actively in recent years. This challenge will by pursued by various ideological movements ‎and their agents in the future with more force." ‎

The Revolutionary Guards memorandum also identifies the "formation of a democracy and ‎human rights front" that was suggested by former presidential candidate Mostafa Moein during ‎the 2005 presidential election as a sign of activism of reformists groups: "These movements will ‎revert to political tricks to single out issues such as human rights as the regime's central issue." ‎

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