Commander Warns against Western Cultural Onslaught
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) raised the alarm that the West seeks to promote the American lifestyle via cultural propaganda, saying a plot is now underway to replace the whole nations’ values with those of the West.
“The West seeks to create non-American Americans, meaning the individuals who are not American nationals, but their beliefs, culture, lifestyle, behavioral model and even their wearing style and eating habits would become American,” IRGC Lieutenant Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami said Monday.
He also cautioned that the West is trying to impose its own moral principles on the other nations, and added that the westerners want the values of the whole countries to become similar to theirs.
“In fact, they (westerners) seek to undermine the human beings’ faith and beliefs as a strategy,” Salami underlined.
The commander’s remarks echoes the comment made earlier by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, who on December 10, 2013, warned against the hostile moves by enemies of Iran to damage the country’s cultural values, and urged authorities to deal with the issue of cultural onslaught in a wise, calculated manner.
Speaking in a gathering of Iranian cultural officials here in Tehran, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei urged caution in dealing with the cultural onslaught launched against Iran by the enemies, particularly by the US, and emphasized the need for vigilance in the face of “activity of at least hundreds of audio, video, printed and Internet media in the world with the certain aim of affecting the Iranian nation’s mind and behavior.”
The Leader also referred to a number of imported computer games and toys as instances that can gradually inculcate the western lifestyle and mentality in children, teenagers and the youth.
Ayatollah Khamenei further noted that confronting the enemy’s cultural tactics requires “innovative endeavor”, and called on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and the country’s ministry of culture and Islamic guidance to devise strategies to counter the harmful effects of the cultural onslaught.
“Belated recognition and reaction would be costly; therefore, we should react in a timely and wise manner,” the Leader warned.
