Advisor to the Commander of the IRGC: Elements of the 2009 Sedition are Present in High Positions

Hamid Reza Moghadamfar, cultural and media advisor to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed on Wednesday, April 27, that some supporters of the Green Movement, or what he referred to as the "elements of sedition," have infiltrated high positions in the country. He stated, "Individuals who were part of the sedition in 2009 are present in some decision-making processes and high responsibilities in the country, which signifies political infiltration." According to Mehr News Agency, Moghadamfar made these remarks during a series of discussions titled 'Cultural Enemy Analysis and Aspects of the Infiltration Project' at the Astan Quds Razavi Youth Institute. The term 'sedition' and its derivatives entered the political lexicon of hardline conservatives following the street protests against the controversial results of the 2009 presidential election, which they use to describe the protesters and their leaders. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, had warned about the infiltration project in Iran months ago, and since then, conservatives have typically labeled their political rivals as 'infiltrators' and their actions as examples of infiltration. Moghadamfar did not mention the names of government officials or the positions of those he claimed were 'elements of the 2009 sedition,' only referring to Mahmoud Sari' al-Qalam. According to Moghadamfar, "Dr. Sari' al-Qalam is a faculty member at the University of Tehran and a senior advisor to high-ranking government officials who openly expresses his Western-oriented thoughts in his books and scientific articles, believing that the country's economic progress depends on abandoning the religious and revolutionary views of the regime." Mahmoud Sari' al-Qalam is a development theorist and researcher in political science and international relations and was an advisor to Hassan Rouhani during his presidency at the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council. Moghadamfar described the characteristics of individuals he claims are elements of sedition who are now in high positions in the country, stating, "Some infiltrators in the country are not agents of enemy intelligence services but are graduates of Western countries whose intellectual framework has been shaped in Western universities." Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, a member of the ninth parliament who failed to enter the tenth parliament, recently referred to the new members of the tenth parliament as those who, according to him, "trampled on the law and caused sedition in the 2009 elections." Fars News Agency also recently reported on the return of "convicted sedition activists to Azad University," evaluating it as "controversial appointments by Hashemi's advisor for political purposes." This news agency, close to the IRGC, mentioned several individuals as examples of these appointments using abbreviations. In another part of his speech, Moghadamfar criticized the post-JCPOA developments, emphasizing that "the post-JCPOA atmosphere has further facilitated infiltration conditions." He added, "After the JCPOA, it is conveyed among the people that hostilities with the U.S. have ended, and now is the time for friendship with the U.S. and presenting Western models." Moghadamfar pointed to one way of "cultural infiltration" as "attracting elites, thinkers, and intellectuals," citing as an example that "after the JCPOA was approved, the German Foreign Minister offered 50,000 scholarships to Iranian students during his visit to Iran, and other Western countries have also welcomed this issue, knowing that these individuals will form the main advocates of cultural infiltration in the future." According to the cultural and media advisor to the IRGC commander, "human sciences in Iranian universities are conducive to infiltration." Ayatollah Khamenei has previously warned about human sciences and the necessity of Islamizing these sciences while distancing them from Western sources. Another example that Moghadamfar mentioned as a case of cultural infiltration was the "dealing with the inconspicuous morality police." This reference by the IRGC official points to the criticisms and positions of government officials, primarily Hassan Rouhani, regarding the project to form an inconspicuous police in recent weeks. The cultural and media advisor to the IRGC commander also called for "better and more precise analysis of the currents" in "the Ministry of Culture, cinemas, television, and universities" as the country's "cultural choke points."