Culture minister says Iran unyielding in face of threats to sovereignty
Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Abbas Salehi, said on Monday that the Iranian people stood united in the wake of recent US-backed Israeli attacks, stressing that the “Iranians do not allow for humiliation or threats to sovereignty.”
Speaking in at IRNA’s newsroom studio following his visit to the Islamic Republic News Agency headquarters in Tehran, Salehi pushed back on what he called miscalculations by Israel and its allies.
“They thought Iranian society had collapsed,” he said, calling their assumptions a “grave mistake.”
“They thought they could hit hard and fast,” he said, “but what they missed was the deep-rooted resilience in our national identity.”
He drew a historical parallel to Saddam Hussein’s 1980 invasion of Iran. “He made a similar misjudgment. The army was in disarray, the revolution fresh, and political factions were at each other’s throats. He thought Tehran was within reach. He was wrong.”
Salehi said that same “historical backbone” has once again held firm. “When the Iranian senses humiliation, they stand up. That’s not something you can measure in polls or satellite images,” he said.
The minister acknowledged internal criticisms and dissatisfaction among Iranians but noted that when national sovereignty is on the line, people draw a clear line. “They might be angry at officials. They might protest. But they don’t confuse Iran with its rulers.”
He also praised Iranian artists, journalists, and athletes for what he described as an “organic, voluntary” wave of national solidarity.
“In these days, the cultural community acted like never before. Not even at the start of the Iran-Iraq war did we see this level of unity,” he said.
Salehi warned that the current war is not only military. “We’re in a hybrid war. A media and psychological war just as fierce as anything on the battlefield,” he said, urging Iran’s intellectuals and media to help raise “analytic appreciation” among the public to counter disinformation.
He also highlighted the importance of preserving daily life, reopening cinemas, encouraging family outings, and holding public cultural events. “Defense and normalcy must go hand in hand,” he said.
He thanked journalists, saying “They’re not just recording moments. They’re shaping the narrative. And in this moment, history will remember who stood their ground.”