In a Monday meeting with senior IRIB officials in Tehran, the Leader highlighted the IRIB’s heavy responsibility in the face of the “complicated, colossal and critical” arena of the enemy’s soft war.
Unlike the actual and hard warfare, soft war is impalpable and the target society may not feel the attack even after the enemy strikes a blow, Ayatollah Khamenei warned.
"While hard war provokes public sentiments and strengthens national unity, soft war kills the other side’s motives and brings about division, the Leader explained."
Imam Khamenei also described the enemy’s main objective in the soft war against Iran as a “metamorphosis of the Islamic Republic of Iran” by changing its nature and maintaining its facade.
In the enemy’s soft war, it does not matter that the title “Islamic Republic” would remain intact or even a cleric leads the country, but what matters is that Iran would serve the interests of the US, Zionism and the global power network, the Leader explained.
Ayatollah Khamenei also cautioned against the plots that aim to influence the people’s “religious, political and cultural beliefs” in the soft war, referring to the Iranian younger generation and intelligentsia as the main targets in the onslaught.
As regards the other objectives of the soft war, the Supreme Leader noted that the enemies seek to change the Iranian public opinion about the terrible record of the previous regime and inculcate the notion that the Islamic Revolution was not necessary.
The enemies also want to give the Iranian youth the sense that progress is impossible, in order to halt any impetus for scientific development and kill motives about the future, the Leader stressed.
“The main and ultimate objective of the engineered soft war is the internal breakup and metamorphosis of the Islamic Republic through a change in the beliefs and weakening the people’s faith, particularly those of the youth,” Ayatollah Khamenei underlined.
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Mohammad Sarafraz speaks during a meeting with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in Tehran on October 12, 2015. © khamenei.ir
The Leader then highlighted the significant role the IRIB plays in countering the soft war.
"Imam Khamenei called on the IRIB officials to conduct a “fundamental, correct and realistic analysis” of the Islamic Republic’s situation inside the country, in the region and in the world."
“A correct comparison between the country’s standing and the corresponding periods in the major global revolutions can help provide a realistic understanding of the country’s situation,” the Leader underlined.
The second duty of the IRIB is to “define and formulate a fundamental and basic thought,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.
The IRIB is on the frontline of the soft war and its managers and personnel are the commanders and troops in that war, the Leader described.
Soft war is a term used by Iranian officials to refer to the cultural invasion and soft intelligence tactics used by foreign countries deemed hostile toward Iran.