Sadegh Larijani: During the Reform Era, Western Intellectuals' Views Were Promoted in the Country

Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, emphasized the seriousness of the issue of "influence" and stated that "during the Reform era, officials traveled abroad, received the secular speeches and articles of Western intellectuals as gifts, and promoted them in the country with a beautiful facade." According to a report on Sunday (February 5), Larijani made this statement during a speech at the "National Conference on the System of Domination and the Current of Influence" held in Tehran. He added, without naming Mohammad Khatami, that "during the Reform era and otherwise, some proposed the intellectuals' thesis to cross red lines." The head of the judiciary further stated that during the Reform era, "secularism was promoted," and the Minister of Culture at that time [Attaollah Mohajerani] had told the leader that he had no "responsibility" in this regard. Sadegh Larijani implicitly accused Mohammad Khatami and the officials of his government of having connections outside Iran, while Khatami had recently filed a complaint against Mohammad-Reza Naqdi, the cultural-social deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, regarding similar accusations. On December 19, Khatami's lawyer announced that his client had filed a complaint against Naqdi for his interview with the newspaper Shargh, in which he claimed that Khatami had received "money" from the King of Saudi Arabia for his political work. The former head of the Basij organization had previously accused Khatami of receiving money from Saudi Arabia multiple times during his speeches and positions. He also stated on November 3, 2011, without mentioning Khatami's name, that "the person who does not respect the clergy's attire or his noble lineage kneels before the Jewish George Soros to succeed in the 2009 elections." Hassan Rouhani and some officials of the eleventh government have also been repeatedly accused in recent years of having relations with the West, attempting to negotiate with the United States, and "retreating" from the "revolutionary ideals." In the latest of these accusations and attacks against Rouhani and his government officials, Larijani stated that "today some doubt the very essence of influence and do not believe in it." He added, "We must take the issue of influence seriously and explain it to all sectors of society," and "the fact that the West creates deterrence for the revolution through influence is clear." Hassan Rouhani's government has faced numerous criticisms and protests following the signing of the "JCPOA" agreement and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's statements about the efforts of the "enemies" of the Islamic Republic to "infiltrate" among officials. Critics of the eleventh government, many of whom are supporters of the Supreme Leader and conservatives, argue that Hassan Rouhani is indifferent to the "influence project" and does not believe in it significantly. In this context, the heads of the judiciary and the Basij organization have attacked the leaders of the 2009 protests, with the Tehran Friday prayer leader considering the slogan "Long live reform" as a sign of "enemy influence." The representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC stated: "Yazid and Pharaoh also said we are reformists." Ali Saeedi claimed that some clerics have been afflicted by the calamity of Soroush and Kadivar. The commander of the IRGC stated that short-sighted individuals fall for the deceptive slogan of "reform." The Minister of Intelligence of Iran criticized analyses based on "intelligence delusions."