IRGC Commander: The Nuclear Sedition was Designed by Americans and Their Collaborators Inside

Hours after the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic warned against negotiations with the United States, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday extended the term "sedition" to the 1997 presidential elections and nuclear negotiations, deeming them a plot by the U.S. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the IRGC commander, referred to Iran's nuclear file, the 1997 presidential elections, the protests over the 2009 election results, and the Iran-Iraq war as the "four major seditions" designed by the "Americans." According to the IRGC's news website, Jafari stated on Wednesday, October 7, that the Islamic Republic is entering a "new phase" after the approval of the Vienna nuclear agreement, where "enemies are trying to create an environment to mislead the revolution." He emphasized that "the American efforts to infiltrate Iran" in the years following the Islamic Revolution have been "fruitless, but today enemy infiltration is one of the most significant threats." He also identified the "eight-year imposed war," the "2nd of Khordad" (the 1997 elections), the "eight-month sedition of 2009," and the "great nuclear sedition" as the "four major seditions" that, according to him, were "designed" by the "Americans and their collaborators inside and outside" against the Islamic Republic. Jafari noted that serious threats to the Islamic Revolution emerged after the 1997 presidential election, which could have "prevented the progress of the revolution and diverted it." In the 1997 presidential elections, despite the support of many IRGC commanders, prominent clerics, and close associates of the Supreme Leader for Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, Mohammad Khatami emerged victorious. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and his close associates refer to the protests over the 2009 presidential election results as "sedition." Khamenei has repeatedly warned about "America's attempts to infiltrate Iran" following the Vienna nuclear agreement and reiterated on Wednesday that negotiating with the U.S. means "opening the door for infiltration" into Iran, indicating that during nuclear negotiations, the Americans "found opportunities" to infiltrate the country. The IRGC commander further stated that there are many "direct and indirect oppositions" to what he called the "true path of the Islamic Revolution" as outlined by the Supreme Leader. He added, "Some are trying to say that the revolution is over, the system is established, and now let’s focus on our own issues, ignoring Gaza and Palestine and the Western bullying in the region, while our existence is in the Islamic Revolution." The Supreme Leader emphasized on Wednesday, September 16, that contrary to what he called "the perceptions and insinuations of foreign think tanks" that some repeat inside, "the revolution is not something that can be completed, and turning it into an Islamic Republic in the way they think will not be possible." Meanwhile, the IRGC commander had previously referred to the Supreme Leader's statements and called the "fifth phase of the Islamic Revolution" the "formation of a global Islamic community." Jafari stated on Tuesday, May 3, that the status of the export of the Islamic Revolution outside Iran is "very favorable" and that the revolution "needs to progress faster" inside Iran. Meanwhile, Reza Taqavi, head of the Policy Council of Friday Prayer Imams, referred to Syria as the "front line against the enemy" and stated that Western governments and the U.S. are trying to "contain" the Islamic Republic so that it does not have an impact in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. The statements of Iranian officials come as officials from some regional countries, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have expressed concern about Iran's actions in the region, including Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain.