Ministry of Intelligence: Offices of 17 Shia Satellite Networks Shut Down

Iran's Ministry of Intelligence states that the offices of 17 satellite networks in Iran have been shut down for inciting division. According to Fars News Agency, the Deputy of Internal Intelligence of the Ministry of Intelligence said on Sunday, January 14, at the 'Brotherhood Ceremony' in Bam that these 17 networks were established by 'enemies' under the guise of Shia and added that the enemies have changed their approach to software 'to counter the thought and school of Imam Khomeini, which is growing in the world, and to spread a different kind of thought.' Mohammad Pourfalah considered the creation of groups like 'ISIS' in the region as another action of the 'enemies' and stated that 'what we see in the world against Islam is solely planned by Zionism and Jews.' He also mentioned that 'there may be fatwas issued in Qom in the name of religious authority, but what matters to us are the statements of the leader who has declared the differences between Shia and Sunni as forbidden.' The Ministry of Intelligence had previously reported in August that it had shut down several satellite networks that 'illegally and secretly work to create discord in the Islamic world and tarnish the image of Shia' and arrested their agents in the provinces of Qom, Isfahan, Tehran, and Razavi Khorasan. The Ministry identified the centers producing these programs as 'England' and 'America.' A few days prior, the governor of Qom reported receiving a letter from Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in which he complained about the programs of these satellite networks. Previously, criticisms had been raised regarding attacks by some Shia clerics on Sunnis. Hamid Reza Pashang, the secretary of the Sunni Representatives Assembly, had called on April 24 of this year for insults to the sanctities and scholars of Sunnis to be considered red lines of the regime. Ali Yunusi, the special assistant to the President of Iran for ethnic and religious minorities, also warned on August 4 about the strengthening of opponents of Shia-Sunni unity over the past eight years and their infiltration into some governmental and state institutions. Meanwhile, Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, on March 16 of last year, referred to Sunni Muslims as believers in 'false religion' and stated: 'Shia books should be promoted among Sunnis so that those with less prejudice can more quickly reach the true religion.'