In a strongly worded statement, the influential clerical body warned that the repression of Shiites is a direct extension of the arrogance’s plot to ignite a sectarian war and undermine the Islamic Republic’s message of regional unity.
Iran’s preeminent clerical institution, the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, has broken its silence on what it describes as a coordinated campaign of “anti-Islamic and anti-human” repression against Shiite Muslims, framing the crackdowns in Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE as a direct consequence of the US-Israeli axis’s failure to subdue the Islamic Revolution.
In a communiqué issued following reports of exile, torture, and mass imprisonment of Shiite citizens and scholars, the Society declared that every anti-Shiite measure is, by its very nature, an “American and Zionist measure.” The statement marks a significant escalation in Iran’s rhetorical offensive against its Arab neighbors, accusing them of acting as client states implementing foreign blueprints designed to fracture the Ummah.
“After the criminal American-Zionist aggression against Islamic Iran and the collusion of certain Arab governments on the Persian Gulf littoral with these vicious and satanic regimes, an unprecedented empathy has emerged between the Iranian nation and Muslim peoples,” the statement read, situating the domestic crackdowns within the broader context of foreign policy tensions. It emphasized that from East Asia to the depths of Africa, free nations support Iran’s resolute response to aggressors.
Mercenary Behavior and the Sinister Plot for Sectarian Strife
The core of the Society’s critique targets the “mercenary rulers” who, failing to counter Iran’s geopolitical influence, have resorted to internal suppression. The statement asserts that these governments, “enslaved to global arrogance,” are implementing a deliberate strategy of creating a Shiite-Sunni war.
“By exerting pressure on Shiite nationals, these regimes are engaging in oppressive and anti-human behavior. Exile, torture, and imprisonment are part of these anti-human actions, and undoubtedly, this line of action is derived from Zionist and American conspiracies,” the clerics stated. The seminary explicitly identified the Shiite populations in Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates as primary targets of this state-sanctioned violence, expressing deep regret over the rulers’ distance from Quranic teachings.
Citing the Quranic directive of being “firm against the unbelievers and compassionate among themselves,” the Society reaffirmed that the political geometry of the Islamic Republic is rooted in unifying principles. It contrasted this with the actions of the Arab regimes, quoting a Quranic verse to underline that any enmity sown among Islamic societies is the work of Satan.
The Geopolitics of Shiism: A Threat to Hegemony
In a direct analysis of the geopolitical landscape, the Qom Seminary linked the domestic persecution to regional power dynamics. The statement posits that the “mighty presence of the Shia discourse” in critical Middle Eastern zones—specifically Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon—represents a serious threat to American and Israeli interests precisely because this discourse relentlessly pursues Islamic unity against common enemies.
Therefore, the conclusion is explicit: any government that targets Shiites is not engaging in a domestic affair but is acting as a proxy force, waging a war by other means to safeguard Western hegemony. “These anti-Shiite movements will provide no exit from the crisis for them,” the Society warned the Arab rulers.
The Society issued a clarion call to Islamic scholars worldwide, urging them to “decisively rise against the arrogance and invalidate the line of sedition that seeks to incite Sunni-Shiite conflict.” It reiterated that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a “friend and well-wisher to its neighbors and the entire Islamic Ummah.”
The statement concluded with a renewed demand for the full mobilization of the Islamic world’s intellectual and practical resources to neutralize anti-Islamic conspiracies, urging that unity against the global arrogance is the only path to fortifying the Muslim nation against the schemes of the US, Israel, and their regional hirelings.
