By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-06-04

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is continuing to make cultural and ideological inroads into the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor, where it is pursuing a program of indoctrination and bribery, local activists said.

It is doing this by spreading the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardian of the Jurist), which calls for allegiance to Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, and by controlling most cultural and social activities, they told Al-Fassel.

The end goal is effecting demographic change in the province.

The Iranian Cultural Center is at the forefront of Iran's soft power efforts, Albu Kamal political and media activist Nour Eddin al-Jamal told Al-Fassel.

Children are taught Farsi at an affiliated educational center in Albu Kamal, with a recently observed focus on the conduct of religious courses that are sectarian in nature, he said.

The newly-opened center draws children into its programs and classes by "intimidating and cajoling the parents at the same time," he said, noting that it organizes recreational trips for the children and distributes food and gifts to them.

Some receive financial grants or scholarships to complete their religious studies in Iran.

The ultimate objective is "building an entire generation that owes complete loyalty to the IRGC's leadership," he said.

"Thus it will be difficult to get rid of the Iranian presence, as the Wilayat al-Faqih doctrine is based primarily on loyalty to the 'Guardian Jurist' (Khamenei)," and not to a person's native country, he explained.

"The IRGC did not stop at the organization of activities by the Cultural Center, as it now fully controls every activity that takes place in the areas under its control in Deir Ezzor," media activist Ayham al-Ali told Al-Fassel.

"It recently handed out money and gifts to a group of women and girls who enrolled in a sewing course," he said, noting that many local residents participate in similar activities in the hope of receiving gifts and money.

If the Iranian plan is not "decisively stopped," al-Ali said, it will have negative consequences "not only in Deir Ezzor, but throughout Syria, all the way to Iraq, since the tribes present in Deir Ezzor have a demographic extension to Iraq."