Iran

Iran’s Radical Education: An Interim Update Report, 2021-22

IMPACT-se’s updated Iran report analyzed new sets of textbooks in the Iranian curriculum created for the current 2021-2022 academic year. The findings indicate a greater degree of radicalization than in previous IMPACT-se reports, “Iran’s Global War Curriculum” (2006-2007) and “Iranian Education: The Continuous Revolution” (2016). Findings show that the Islamic Republic’s curriculum provides educational content that continues to teach students about the prospect of a global struggle to spread the Islamist-Khomeinist revolution from as early as the first grade. The world is divided between followers of Iran’s global revolution and those who oppose it. Students are taught that Arab proxy militias are part of the Iranian regime and core to its goals. A central tenet of the curriculum is aimed at equipping the military forces of the country. Maintaining Khomeinist ideology is the foundation for war and martyrdom in the name of spreading Islam. Students are taught that they are constantly under threat, most notably from the United States. The curriculum attacks the United States and praises the slogan “Death to America!” Death to America hate rituals are praised and justified as an important tool for preserving the unity of society and a necessity against American arrogant disposition. As is the case with prior reports, antisemitism remains rife, classic antisemitic tropes are used to describe Zionism, as a wealthy ring of evil Jewish capitalists looking to control the world for malicious gain and students are encouraged to attend protests calling for the “death to Israel.”  Report