Khamenei’s preacher travels to Thailand on propaganda mission
The eulogy reciter of Iran's Supreme Leader's office, Meysam Motiee, has traveled to Thailand in a bid to export the country's ideology abroad.
The eulogy reciter of Iran's Supreme Leader's office, Meysam Motiee, has traveled to Thailand in a bid to export the country's ideology abroad.
The trip, like many other initiatives by Iran’s clerical rulers, has stirred controversy and renewed criticism over the Islamic Republic’s efforts to expand its ideological influence abroad.
Motiee, seemingly a PhD holder and religious reciter, is celebrated by Khamenei as one of the system's "miracles," a symbol of how the revolution has penetrated the academic world, as Khamenei says. His close ties with the Supreme Leader's office have turned him into one of the most prominent figures used by the Islamic Republic to project its narrative, domestically and internationally.
While Iranian state-affiliated media tout Motiee's journey to Thailand as a cultural and religious mission, many see it as yet another example of the Islamic Republic’s broader strategy of exporting its ideology under the guise of religious outreach.
Iran has consistently dispatched thousands of missionaries and operatives to countries worldwide, in an ongoing effort to promote Shiism, and to bolster Tehran's political clout abroad.
Muslims are Thailand's largest minority, constituting around 12 percent of the 62.5 million population, though just one percent of them is Shia Muslim.
According to IranWire, Motiee rose to fame in 2017 when, during Eid al-Fitr prayers led by Khamenei in Tehran, he recited a poem sharply criticizing the nuclear deal and President Hassan Rouhani’s administration.
Despite backlash from Rouhani’s supporters, Khamenei himself publicly defended Motiee, further solidifying his status within the country's political system.
But Motiee’s influence extends far beyond Iran's borders. His eulogies have frequently aligned with Tehran’s political messaging, particularly in support of the "Axis of Resistance", the Tehran-backed network of militias and political groups across the Middle East. In his performances, he has repeatedly expressed opposition to Israel and Saudi Arabia, echoing the system’s aggressive foreign policy positions.
Under Khamenei's leadership, eulogists or "maddahs," who once earned their livelihood by performing lamentations for the deceased in graveyards or reciting tragic tales during Muharram, have now become key political figures in the Islamic Republic.
They hold significant influence in political circles and government offices, using their close ties to Khamenei to expedite various business matters, often for a fee.
During election seasons, eulogist associations engage in political propaganda on behalf of candidates, charging substantial sums. The closer a maddah is to Khamenei, the higher his fees and the greater his sway.
In 2005, a group of 100 maddahs endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for president.
Motiee’s trip to Thailand is far from unique. The Islamic Republic has long used religion as a tool to spread its influence globally. One of its most significant institutions in this endeavor is Al-Mustafa International University, a religious and educational center based in Qom.
Established under Khamenei’s orders in 2008, Al-Mustafa serves as an instrument in the ideological expansion. It operates in over 60 countries and receives significant funding from Iran’s budget, over $23 million in 2024 alone.
Despite claiming to be an academic institution, Al-Mustafa has been accused of serving as a base for the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
With nearly 40,000 foreign students, many of whom hail from conflict-ridden regions like Afghanistan and Pakistan, the institution has played a key role in recruiting fighters for Tehran’s proxy wars.
The US government has sanctioned Al-Mustafa for its connections to Iran's military operations, yet it continues to operate globally, attracting students from over 130 countries, many of whom return home as loyal followers of Tehran’s ideological project.
In recent years, the Islamic Republic’s clerics, despite their anti-Western rhetoric, have shown a clear preference for international travel, often under the guise of religious outreach. Figures like Hamid Rasaee, a hardline cleric and MP close to the system, and the late cleric and Shia political theorist Taqi Mesbah Yazdi have made similar trips to Europe and even the United States.
The irony of these foreign trips is not lost on Iran’s beleaguered population. While the Islamic Republic continues to chant anti-Western slogans and promote isolationist policies, its officials travel freely, often to Western nations under the banner of promoting Shiism.
Meanwhile, the cost of these overseas missions is shouldered by the Iranian people, who have been hit dramatically by the country's economic crisis which has forced many below the poverty line.
In the last few weeks only, giant tech companies Google, Microsoft and Meta have all reported malign activities with connections to Iran, warning that Iranian efforts may become “extreme”, even inciting violence against political figures to create chaos and undermine the integrity of the upcoming elections.
“It seems that there’s coordination between Tehran and Moscow’s information operation,” Marcus Kolga, head of DisinfoWatch told Iran International. “The US and all western democracies need to be paying close attention and exposing them. The combined information and influence operations of Iran, Russia and China represent a serious threat to all western democracies - which we cannot afford to ignore.”
Up until a few years ago, Iran was no match for Russia and China in cyber attacks. But that seems to have changed according to recent US intelligence assessments that underlined Iran’s continued efforts to hack American individuals and organizations. "Iran is becoming increasingly bold in its attempts to stoke discord and erode trust in our democratic institutions," the US Director of National Intelligence said in July.
Iranian officials, however, have dismissed all such reports, calling them “unsubstantiated.”
The escalating cyber activities from Iran come at a critical time as the US prepares for the 2024 presidential election in November. Iranian operations seem to be directed mainly towards former president Donald Trump, fearing, perhaps, that he would take a tougher stance against the ruling elite in Tehran if elected president.
Earlier this year, Iranian operatives reportedly hacked the emails of Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, and attempted to infiltrate the Harris campaigns. Last month, Meta (formerly Facebook) revealed it had detected similar efforts on its WhatsApp messaging platform targeting both political campaigns.
A New York Times report Wednesday named three websites that it claimed are linked to Iran’s disinformation efforts, posing as legitimate news outlets catering for Americans of varying political persuasion. According to the report, Savannah Time, NioThinker and Westland Sun target conservatives, progressives and Muslim communities respectively, publishing tailored content that aims to deepen divisions in the US.
The scope of Iran's activities extends beyond disinformation. In yet another recent report, Microsoft and Google warned about attempts to breach U.S. presidential campaigns in the lead-up to the November election.
Meta disclosed on 24 August that it had thwarted attempts by Iranian hackers to compromise the WhatsApp accounts of US officials connected to Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The hackers allegedly posed as technical support representatives from companies like Google and Microsoft to gain unauthorized access. Meta said it had quickly intervened, blocking the accounts before any significant breaches occurred.
As tensions between the two nations remain high, the possibility of foreign interference adds another layer of complexity to an already fraught political landscape.
The latest findings from the state-run National Population Research Institute suggest that the average age of marriage for women has reached 24, while men are marrying at around 28 years old.
According to the head of the Institute, Mohammad-Javad Mahmoudi, the number of registered marriages in Iran has dropped dramatically since 2011,with almost half a million marriages registered – a fall from the peak of 891,627 marriages in 2010.
This downward trend has persisted despite repeated calls from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for policies to facilitate marriage and boost population growth.
The figures also suggest that the trend kickstarted the year international sanctions tightened their grip on the Iranian economy in 2011. At the end of that year, the US blocked oil importers from making payments through Iran's central bank and imposed measures that restricted Iran's access to foreign currencies. These sanctions were a response to Iran's defiance of international norms on nuclear weapons development, aiming to limit its nuclear proliferation potential and enforce global demands for transparency and accountability.
The figures also reveal that before the downward trend, there was a dramatic rise in the number of marriages in Iran with registrations soaring nearly ninefold from 152,411 to 891,627 between 1966 to 2010. This surge represents the highest recorded marriage rate in over fifty years.
Khamenei’s rhetoric on population growth has been matched by a series of laws and regulations designed to encourage young Iranians to marry and have children. However, these initiatives are being undermined by significant economic challenges, including the impacts of international sanctions that have made it increasingly difficult for many young Iranians to afford the costs of starting a family.
Iran observers often highlight that the country’s economic struggles are largely a consequence of sanctions imposed due to its support for regional terrorism and severe human rights abuses. The US and EU have targeted Iran for backing militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as for its widespread suppression of political dissent and activism.
The decline in marriage rates also reflects a broader demographic shift in Iran. Over the past 57 years, the average age at which women first marry has risen by approximately five and a half years, while for men, it has increased by about three and a half years.
This delay in marriage, coupled with economic uncertainty, has also led to a decline in birth rates. In the first nine months of 2023, Iran experienced the lowest number of births in the past decade, intensifying worries about the country’s future population growth. Abortion rates have also been on the rise in recent years.
Mahmoudi also warned that the number of women of reproductive age will sharply decline after 2029. This is due to the government’s failure to capitalize on the peak reproductive years between 2010 and 2022. "We have not yet optimally utilized the 12-year period between 2010 and 2022, during which we had a peak in the number of women of reproductive age," Mahmoudi admitted.
These demographic challenges emerge as Khamenei has once again instructed government officials to eliminate barriers to population growth. On September 3, Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi announced that discussions had been held on population growth policies and that experts were tasked with addressing these issues.
The Rejuvenation of the Population and Protection of the Family (RPPF) law, enacted by the Iranian Parliament in 2021 under Khamenei’s directive, has yet to produce significant results. While the law imposes penalties for actions against childbearing and marriage, economic pressures on young Iranians continue to outweigh these measures.
In a recent effort to tackle the population decline, the Central Bank of Iran announced on September 1 that it will allocate 500 trillion rials (over $830 million) from bank deposits for marriage and childbearing loans. An investigation by Iran International, however, revealed that this funding will fall short of meeting the actual demand for these loans.
This underscores the inadequacy of the government's measures and its failure to address the crisis effectively. Despite the large financial commitment, the government's approach is criticized for not sufficiently addressing the needs of young Iranians and failing to mitigate the broader economic pressures contributing to the decline in marriage rates and birth rates.
Iran's population growth rate has thus sharply declined to 0.6 percent, down from 1.23% just two years ago and a significant drop from the 4.21% rate seen in 1984.
Despite this, the Supreme Leader appears bent on boosting the population to 150 million by 2050. The relentless pursuit of demographic growth, frequently at the expense of individual rights and well-being, according to many observers, highlights the Islamic Republic’s disregard for the health and rights of its citizens, especially women and children, in favor of ideological ambitions.
The group is focused on advocating for policies they believe will strengthen US national security and promote a tougher stance toward the government of Iran.
During his administration, Trump’s foreign policy, especially regarding the Middle East, was characterized by a strong opposition to Iran. His administration withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2019, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, and imposed strict sanctions against Iran.
Iranians for Trump supports these policies, viewing them as critical measures to counter Iran’s influence. The organization emphasizes Trump’s previous administration’s role in addressing issues related to Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and its regional destabilizing activities, which the group argues threaten global security.
“While the Biden-Harris administration has struggled to effectively confront the threats posed by Iran’s regime, President Trump’s leadership is marked by unwavering commitment to safeguarding American national security and supporting the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom,” said Nasim Behrouz, Persian-language spokesperson for Iranians for Trump.
Iranians for Trump will focus on voter registration and advocacy to ensure that the Iranian-American community’s concerns, particularly regarding US foreign policy toward Iran, are considered by political leaders.
Sarah Raviani, the English-language spokesperson for the group, signaling the group' activism also in Congressional races added, “Our mission is to mobilize Iranian-American voters to support leaders who prioritize policies that protect US national security and promote democratic values both at home and abroad.”
According to figures from Iran’s High Council of Iranian Affairs Abroad in 2020, 47% of the Iranian diaspora (1,905,813 people) live in the Americas, with an estimated 1,500,000 living in the United States.
Meanwhile, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute citing tabulations from the US Census Bureau 2019 American Community Survey (ACS), the Iranian diaspora in the United States comprises more than 577,000 individuals born in Iran or reported Iranian ancestry.
Even considering the US Census Bureau, Iranian-American voters, have the potential to play a role in the November elections. While many Iran-Americans live in states like California and Texas, smaller but notable populations exist in swing states such as Virginia, Florida, Georgia, and Nevada.
