Iran’s former intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi warned that domestic injustices and political exclusion risk eroding national cohesion, saying Iranians should not be treated as if unity is only demanded in wartime.
Alavi, now a senior adviser on ethnic and religious affairs to President Masoud Pezeshkian, said the 12-day conflict with Israel and the United States in June showed that Iranians of all ethnic and religious backgrounds can stand together. But he cautioned that this unity could be undermined if people feel ignored or excluded.
“Do not let injustice, discrimination or unprofessional politics erode this social capital,” he said in an interview with state news agency IRNA. “People must not feel they are only wanted for war, not for building the country.”
The cleric added: “We must make ethnic and religious justice a reality, and give all Iranians equal opportunity and security regardless of their identity.”
Tehran is embracing the very nationalism it suppressed for much of its existence in the wake of a punishing 12-day war with Israel and the United States, signaling authorities' keenness to drum up unity among a weary populace.
Narrative battle and state media
Alavi devoted much of his remarks to Iran’s media shortcomings during the conflict, acknowledging that foreign broadcasters shaped global perceptions.
Referring to public criticism voiced online, he said:“People on social media ask, ‘Why must our story only be heard through hostile or so-called neutral media?’ The national broadcaster must act more nationally.”
The former minister directly accused Persian-language channels abroad of aiding Iran’s enemies.
“Hostile media like Iran International, Voice of America and similar outlets played exactly the role that the enemy sought on the battlefield -- to create division between people and the state, weaken morale with exaggerated or false reports of casualties, incite ethnic and sectarian tensions with racist narratives, and push polarization between ‘the people and the front’ or between ‘defense and freedom,’” Alavi said.
He accused such outlets of using “psychological operations to portray Iran’s legitimate defense as reckless adventurism and to damage domestic cohesion.”
Iranian authorities have threatened dozens of journalists at London-based broadcaster Iran International and hundreds of their relatives in a campaign to force resignations, Forbes reported earlier in August.
Lawyers from Doughty Street Chambers and Howard Kennedy said 45 reporters and 315 family members were targeted over the past six weeks, warning they would be killed if they did not quit by deadlines that have since passed.
Iran International, which covers events in Iran and the region, said staff have faced harassment since its 2017 launch, including assassination and kidnapping threats, assaults, online abuse and hacking.
British lawmakers have warned that Iran is among foreign governments carrying out transnational repression in the UK.
The broadcaster last week filed an urgent appeal to UN experts, urging action against Tehran over risks to its journalists worldwide and relatives inside Iran.
