Iranian Curriculum Preparing Students for War With Israel New Study Says
by Dion J. Pierre
Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran on Sep. 22, 2010. Photo: Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl/File photo
The Iranian regime’s educational system radicalizes students for a global and revolutionary war “as early as the first grade,” according to a new report by Israeli education watchdog Impact-se.
On Monday, the group released “Iran’s Radical Education,” its first assessment of Iranian school curriculum since 2016. It found that students are taught to glorify the regime’s nuclear aspirations, child martyrdom, and efforts to destroy Israel.
Textbooks analyzed by Impact-se also uncovered content stressing the importance of achieving Iranian hegemony in the Arab Middle East and arguing that the US-Israel relationship is the only obstacle to that goal.
Other material features classic antisemitic tropes. In several textbooks, Jews are said to control the media and, the group said, Zionism is described as “an evil organization of wealthy Jewish capitalists manipulating the United States and other countries for malicious gain,” the report stated.
“While it is hard to believe that Iranian textbooks could have become more extreme since our last report in 2016, this latest review of the current curriculum shows a greater focus on Iran’s efforts to export its Islamic revolution across the Middle East,” Impact-se CEO Marcus Sheff said on Monday. “Each student is encouraged to engage in militant activity to realize Iranian hegemony in the region. Essentially, students are being prepared for endless war.”
Sheff noted that Israel is the primary object of the curriculum’s animus, saying, “the attitude to Israel in textbooks is stark: the curriculum is clear as day in calling for total war against Israel until it is completely eradicated. This while Israel’s destruction is presented not just as an ideal, but as a realistic and achievable goal.”
“The combination of revolutionary war and genocide teaching, together with decent pedagogical standards, should ensure for Iran a cadre of well-equipped young adults, ready to carry out the leadership’s bidding,” he continued.
