{"id":334435,"date":"2025-07-20T19:18:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T18:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=334435"},"modified":"2025-09-18T14:32:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T13:32:45","slug":"khameneis-friday-leaders-reveal-deepening-fear-of-the-pmoi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/demonization-articles-analyses\/khameneis-friday-leaders-reveal-deepening-fear-of-the-pmoi\/","title":{"rendered":"Khamenei\u2019s Friday Leaders Reveal Deepening Fear of the PMOI"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_334436\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-334436\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-334436 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/From-Right-to-Left-Mohammad-Mehdi-Hosseini-Hamedani-Mohammad-Mokhtari-and-Ghanbar-Darvishy.jpg\" alt=\"From Right to Left Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini Hamedani, Mohammad Mokhtari and Ghanbar Darvishy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/From-Right-to-Left-Mohammad-Mehdi-Hosseini-Hamedani-Mohammad-Mokhtari-and-Ghanbar-Darvishy.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/From-Right-to-Left-Mohammad-Mehdi-Hosseini-Hamedani-Mohammad-Mokhtari-and-Ghanbar-Darvishy-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/From-Right-to-Left-Mohammad-Mehdi-Hosseini-Hamedani-Mohammad-Mokhtari-and-Ghanbar-Darvishy-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/From-Right-to-Left-Mohammad-Mehdi-Hosseini-Hamedani-Mohammad-Mokhtari-and-Ghanbar-Darvishy-746x420.jpg 746w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/From-Right-to-Left-Mohammad-Mehdi-Hosseini-Hamedani-Mohammad-Mokhtari-and-Ghanbar-Darvishy-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/From-Right-to-Left-Mohammad-Mehdi-Hosseini-Hamedani-Mohammad-Mokhtari-and-Ghanbar-Darvishy-696x392.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-334436\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mohammad-Mehdi Hosseini Hamedani, Friday prayer leader of Karaj (left); Mohammad Mokhtari, interim Friday prayer leader of Birjand (center); Ghanbar Darvishy, secretary of the Combatant Clergy Association in Hormozgan Province (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><em>Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A coordinated narrative from several of Khamenei\u2019s appointed Friday prayer leaders this week has exposed one of the regime&#8217;s most enduring fears: the potential for renewed influence and action by the <a href=\"https:\/\/english.mojahedin.org\/a-primer-on-the-history-of-the-peoples-mojahedin-organization-of-iran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">People&#8217;s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK\/PMOI)<\/a>, coupled with domestic unrest. These speeches\u2014delivered just weeks after the end of the recent 12-day war\u2014signal that the regime considers itself still under existential threat, not from foreign powers, but from within.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The coordinated messages from the Friday prayer leaders of cities like Karaj, Birjand, Bandar Abbas, and Chahardangeh reveal a regime rattled not only by external military confrontation but also by what it sees as the looming specter of organized domestic uprising. The comparison repeatedly made by the clerics\u2014to the politically explosive summer of 1988, when Ruhollah Khomeini, the regime\u2019s founder, abruptly accepted UN Resolution 598 to end the Iran-Iraq War\u2014underscores the seriousness of the concern. That year\u2019s turning point was followed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/meks-impact-on-the-iran-iraq-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the PMOI\u2019s military operation<\/a> in western Iran and the regime&#8217;s subsequent massacre of political prisoners, many of whom were PMOI members or sympathizers.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">A Return to the 1980s Mindset<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini Hamedani, the Friday Imam of Karaj and Khamenei&#8217;s representative, opened his sermon by recalling July 18, 1988, as &#8220;a day of sorrow&#8221; due to the regime\u2019s acceptance of the UN ceasefire resolution. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/ostanha.tabnak.ir\/fa\/news\/1203628\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he argued<\/a> that the acceptance was a \u201csmart and rational decision\u201d that deceived the enemy and enabled the regime to later carry out &#8220;Operation Mersad&#8221;\u2014the military counterattack to the \u201cOperation Eternal Light\u201d of the National Liberation Army.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a>&#39;s Regime Admits Its Fear of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MEKResistanceUnits?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MEKResistanceUnits<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nmvFCsE6sx\">https:\/\/t.co\/nmvFCsE6sx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1941891344953155753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He went on to claim that current conditions are &#8220;very similar&#8221; to those of the late 1980s, warning that &#8220;enemies are working hard to weaken the position of the Supreme Leader and the concept of Velayat-e Faqih.&#8221; This &#8220;cognitive warfare,&#8221; as he called it, is being waged to create the impression that Khamenei is in hiding or afraid, which he insisted is false. Instead, he praised Khamenei\u2019s \u201cheroic\u201d leadership during the recent 12-day war, describing his appointment of military commanders and rapid response to Israeli attacks as a \u201cmasterpiece of leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yet the need to insist so forcefully on the Supreme Leader\u2019s strength and visibility suggests that the regime is concerned about public perception\u2014and more importantly, internal legitimacy.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Coordinated Alarm Over the PMOI<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, another religious authority, Ghanbar Darvishy, was even more explicit. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iribnews.ir\/fa\/news\/5520769\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">He claimed<\/a> the PMOI had pre-positioned operatives with explosives, aiming to trigger domestic chaos, inspire an uprising, and topple the regime. &#8220;They were ready. Their plan was for people to rise up and overthrow the government,&#8221; he warned, hinting darkly that some insiders may have intentionally stirred dissatisfaction among the public to support such an outcome.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IRGC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#IRGC<\/a>-Linked Media Accuses <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mojahedineng?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Mojahedineng<\/a> of Targeting Youth Amid Growing Influence<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/prg0rozDEV\">https:\/\/t.co\/prg0rozDEV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1907816286588932193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In Birjand, cleric <a href=\"https:\/\/akharinkhabar.ir\/local\/10590267\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mohammad Mokhtari warned<\/a> that \u201cthe war is not over,\u201d and that the PMOI, popular unrest, and infiltration efforts were part of a broader strategy by the enemy to dismantle Iran\u2019s nuclear and missile capabilities. He described a moment of acute vulnerability during the war\u2019s first 24 hours, which was only reversed, he said, when Khamenei \u201ctook the scene in hand\u201d and rapidly changed the situation.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Heightened Fear of Uprisings Post-War<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The repeated references to the PMOI and uprisings reveal how closely the regime links external military pressure with domestic instability. The war with Israel, while officially declared over, has left a vacuum that the clerical regime now seems eager to fill with a different narrative\u2014one that turns public attention to internal enemies and justifies continued repression under the guise of &#8220;hybrid warfare.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The mention of &#8220;hybrid war&#8221; and &#8220;cognitive warfare&#8221; in nearly every sermon this week is notable. It reflects the regime\u2019s recognition that traditional military threats may be less destabilizing than social discontent, digital activism, and underground organizing. In effect, the Iranian regime is shifting its public narrative to stress a multi-dimensional battlefront\u2014military, economic, diplomatic, and psychological\u2014where the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-protests\/how-the-iranian-regimes-fear-of-the-uprising-and-pmoi-signals-its-imminent-downfall\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> PMOI and anti-regime protest<\/a> movements are now considered front-line threats.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Former MOIS Interrogator Warns Against <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MEK?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MEK<\/a> Influence in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a>, Calls for Internet Restrictions<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FKQS8AGR8F\">https:\/\/t.co\/FKQS8AGR8F<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1745188771602301035?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">A Pretext for Further Repression<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This coordinated clerical alarmism may also serve a more practical function: creating political space and justification for heightened security measures. By drawing parallels to the late 1980s\u2014particularly the post-ceasefire crackdown\u2014it may be laying the ideological groundwork for a new wave of arrests, censorship, and targeted repression.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Given recent reports of increased <a href=\"https:\/\/english.mojahedin.org\/news\/under-the-shadow-of-war-irans-regime-unleashes-a-new-reign-of-terror-on-political-prisoners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disappearances of political prisoners<\/a> and growing unrest in prisons, the clerics\u2019 language could signal that the regime is preparing for preemptive actions against dissident groups it views as capable of mobilizing a new uprising.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The unified messaging across cities and provinces suggests these are not isolated comments, but part of a centralized directive. The regime, fresh from a costly and politically volatile confrontation, is pivoting its propaganda machinery inward\u2014to warn of \u201cinfiltrators,\u201d \u201cbomb-makers,\u201d and \u201ccognitive warfare.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That it is choosing to revive the specter of the PMOI shows both the durability of the Iranian Resistance\u2019s image and the degree to which Tehran remains haunted by the idea of organized resistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three-minute read A coordinated narrative from several of Khamenei&rsquo;s appointed Friday prayer leaders this week has exposed one of the regime&rsquo;s most enduring fears: the potential for renewed influence and [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":334436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,845,5493],"tags":[197],"class_list":{"0":"post-334435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-resistance","8":"category-demonizing-mek","9":"category-demonization-articles-analyses","10":"tag-mek-iran"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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