Iran to establish ministry to fight "soft war"

Brigadier-General Masood Jazaeri, head of the cultural headquarters of Iran’s armed forces has proposed the establishment of a separate ministry to confront the “media and soft wars” against the Islamic Republic.

He told IRNA that the ministry’s objective would be to “establish policies as well as guide and coordinate executive operations to confront the soft war.”

The Iranian military official insisted that “The aggressive and psychological actions of the US, Britain and their allies against the Islamic Republic have never been so extensive and widespread.”

Iranian officials refer to the opposition’s media and cultural activities as a “soft war” and attribute them to foreign conspiracies against the regime.

Following Iran’s controversial presidential elections in 2009, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s opponents challenged his victory and millions protested on streets against election fraud.

The government has consistently connected these protests to foreign elements trying to topple the system.

The opposition insists that its aims are reformists and not seditious and the government it using the “soft war” as an excuse to suppress the reform movement.