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Iran's IRGC accuses West of cultural ‘invasion’ in schools

Iran's IRGC accuses West of cultural ‘invasion’ in schools

The commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami. (Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP/File)

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused the West of a cultural “invasion” of Iranian schools, amid protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Street violence over the Kurdish woman’s killing has led to dozens of deaths, mostly of protesters but also members of the security forces, and gatherings have been reported in schools across the country.

“The riots are a path that has come from strategic think tanks in America and England which has spread to our classrooms,” Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami was quoted as saying on the Guards’ Sepah News website. “Today the enemy has opened a new area of cultural, political and security invasion … this is the most complex and mysterious battlefield where the enemy has a serious presence,” he said.

“Americans start by having the headscarf removed and continue until the point where our lifestyles become like those of Westerners,” he added.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Salami heads, is the ideological arm of Iran’s military. The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF has said it is “extremely concerned” over reports of “children and adolescents being killed, injured and detained” in Iran. Iranian Education Minister Yousef Nouri, quoted Sunday by local media, denied the arrest of schoolchildren.

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused the West of a cultural “invasion” of Iranian schools, amid protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.Street violence over the Kurdish woman’s killing has led to dozens of deaths, mostly of protesters but also members of the security forces, and gatherings have been reported in schools across the...