Expansion of Ideological Education; Khamenei's Advisor: 'Soleimani School' Course to Be Taught in Universities from October

The former commander of the IRGC and military advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has announced the addition of a new course titled 'Soleimani School' to the current university curriculum in Iran starting from October. Yahya Rahim Safavi, 'senior assistant and advisor' to Ali Khamenei, stated that 'we have tried to consider the Sacred Defense in 2 course units' and told the 'Defa Press' website, close to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic, that this new course has been 'approved for all universities.' According to him, last year the 'Sacred Defense Research Institute' attempted to convert this 'Soleimani School' into a 'course unit' with the help of the 'Ministry of Science' based on what the Supreme Leader had said that 'Martyr Soleimani is not a person, but a school.' Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Shiite militia in Iraq known as 'Hashd al-Shaabi,' were killed in a US drone strike near 'Baghdad Airport' on January 3, 2020. After Soleimani's death, senior officials of the Islamic Republic tried to portray him as a 'national figure,' for which substantial budgets were allocated for holding conferences, erecting statues, and launching projects in his name. Based on the announcement of the former IRGC commander, the teaching of the new educational unit 'Soleimani School' will be 'operational' in the form of '2 course units' in the country's universities starting from this October. However, in recent years, especially after the nationwide protests from September 2022 onwards, many statues, images, or symbols of this IRGC commander in various cities of Iran have been burned or destroyed. Meanwhile, some cultural and artistic figures, such as Mohammad Ali Bahmani, a poet and ghazal writer, expressed 'regret' through publications about their 'presence' at the government ceremony marking the anniversary of Qassem Soleimani's death. Currently, several other ideological course units, such as 'Roots of the Revolution,' studying the will of Ruhollah Khomeini, or teaching Ja'fari Shia Islam and the religion of Islam, are considered mandatory university courses in Iran. The beginning of curriculum changes at the request of Ali Khamenei: participation of 7,000 people to revise the content of 1,500 educational programs. Concurrently with the resumption of classes in schools and universities, two ministries issued statements regarding 'hijab and chastity.' The Islamic Republic's education system is seeking to 'educate' teachers in sexual, political, and ideological matters. The continuous changes in textbooks in Iran; the deputy minister stated that the failure rate among first graders is 'terrifying.' The Ministry of Education is seeking to 'promote martyrdom': we will change the content of textbooks. The content of 200 textbooks has been changed at Khamenei's order.