Image from a current Iranian state textbook, in a lesson titled “Cultural Attack”. Grade 9, Heaven’s Messages: Islamic Education and Training, p. 105. Our Mission: To stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s policies have been of concern to the international community for decades. Most urgent for policymakers has been Iran’s program to develop nuclear weapons capability, its aggressive regional foreign policy, most recently in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and its extensive state sponsorship of terror. The Government of Iran is also the most destructive and egregious state-sponsor of antisemitism in the world today, propagating a voluminous array of anti-Jewish propaganda, Holocaust denial, and instigating violence that specifically targets both the Jewish state as well as Jewish communities around the globe. The incoming Biden Administration is poised to confront the myriad challenges posed by Iranian military and foreign policy. And of course, effective policy depends upon having a comprehensive understanding of the Iranian regime’s various activities, its ethos, and priorities. One such important indicator is what Iranian children are currently being taught in the classroom, which unfortunately has been an understudied topic to date. Why Current Iranian Textbooks Matter: ADL undertook a rigorous examination of Iranian textbooks, with a specific interest in documenting antisemitism, incitement to violence and the promotion of hate. In part we decided to do so because the most recent comprehensive study of Iranian textbooks was published over four years ago, in the form of a rigorous, landmark monograph by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se).[1] For comparison, surveys on incitement in Saudi state textbooks have been published every single academic year in that intervening period, either by ADL,[2] IMPACT-se,[3] the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom,[4] or the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.[5] Given the regime’s recent behavior, it would be unreasonable wishful thinking to presume that Iran’s educational incitement has diminished since 2016. But it is also important to document the current state of hate in those materials – to confirm if and how such messages are in fact being propagated today, to justify greater public awareness about this issue, and to inform policymakers in Washington and around the world about the extent, nature, and importance of responding to this challenge. What the Current Textbooks Teach: Based on ADL’s close assessment of Iranian high school, middle school, and elementary school textbooks, we have determined that Iran’s state curriculum for the academic year 2020-21 strenuously militarizes young people, indoctrinating them for war. It literally teaches entire courses titled “Defense Preparation,” and militant messages are seeded across other dimensions of the curriculum as well, including lessons on both history and religious studies. Likewise, incitement to hatred against Jews and Israel are extensively interspersed throughout multiple fields of the curriculum such as history, religion, and social studies, as are anti-imperialist messages inciting against America and other developed countries. The Government of Iran frequently claims publicly that its animus is directed solely at the State of Israel, not the Jewish people, but that is flatly contradicted by its own educational content. Current Iranian state textbooks overwhelmingly teach hateful messages about Jewish people across both ancient and modern history, as part of the regime’s depiction of human history as essentially a conflict between Islamic leaders on the one hand and scheming, evil enemies of Islam on the other. In this regard Jews are depicted in accordance with a broad array of hateful antisemitic myths and tropes, while Zionists and the State of Israel are depicted as the spearhead of global imperialism against the Muslim world, purportedly led today by America. Children are taught that Zionism is a racist, imperialist contrivance akin to other Jewish or Western conspiracies against Islam throughout history, and that Zionist Jews are the enemies of Islam. Students are instructed to chant “Death to Israel” and taught that the Jewish state is “fake” and must be destroyed.[6] The textbooks also teach that America is and has been committed to regime change in Iran since 1979, as part of an American-led “satanic plan” to subjugate true Islam.[7] As such, these books also teach that economic sanctions by America and by European countries are part of this scheme that poses an existential threat to Iran, its people, and its state, rather than as a penalty for any specific Iranian conduct. Iran Textbooks Graphic from a current Iranian state textbook, Grade 10, Defense Preparation, p. 120. The text in red translates to “Sanctions”. The text in black says “Iran”. But this narrative goes beyond economic sanctions per se – instead, it is also framed so broadly as to even include overtures of engagement by these countries toward Iran as inherently malicious schemes. Schoolchildren learn that American and European cultural influences are merely part of a “soft war” or “cultural attack” against the Islamic faith.[8] Furthermore, the textbooks teach that ISIS is fabrication of America, Zionists, and Arab puppets. The Baha’i faith is slandered as a colonialist contrivance, and its adherents are demonized as untrustworthy and possibly even filthy, as are followers of Wahhabism, the main Islamic current in Saudi Arabia. Policymakers, journalists, and civil society groups in both the United States and around the world should be aware that the Government of Iran is currently indoctrinating the next generation with such harmful content. Such a reality speaks to the severity of the policy challenges posed by Iran, as well as the importance yet difficulty of reaching a more sustainable outcome for peace and understanding. Image from a current Iranian state textbook, in a lesson titled “Cultural Attack”. Grade 9, Heaven’s Messages: Islamic Education and Training, p. 105.