March 17, 2023
The former head of the Pasdaran’s intelligence arm says the “enemy” controls the internet, so it has to be restricted.
Hossein Ta’eb, a cleric, said, “We no longer have aerial bombardments and missiles” and instead a “hybrid war” is taking place. The term “hybrid war” is the latest fad phrase within the establishment, although its meaning isn’t clear except that it means something other than hot war.
The clerical regime has blocked thousands of websites for the past two decades, but it expanded internet restrictions after the start of the antigovernment protests in September.
Ta’eb said, “The internet is under the control of the enemy, so we have to restrict it to deny the enemy success in its hybrid war.”
Islamic Republic officials use the term “enemy” to refer to the United States and its allies.
During a speech at Tehran Polytechnic University (Amir-kabir) February 13, Ta’eb attributed the support of celebrities for public protests to “hybrid war,” claiming that in a hybrid war the fans of a celebrity must be excited to create violence.
Ta’eb also referred to Prince Reza Pahlavi’s embrace of the prominent Sunni cleric Mowlavi Abdolhamid, saying, “We do not have ethnic and religious differences, and Shia and Sunni live together, but some people want to take advantage of this.”
He accused the US of seeking to create “social rifts” in Iran, so that “both sides in society will clash first with each other, and then they will clash with the government.”
He did not say whom he meant by the “two sides.”