Iran To Establish Seminary-Affiliated Schools
Iran's deputy education minister, Hamid Nikzad, has announced that seminary-affiliated schools will be established as part of the ministry's "Mosque, School, and Home" program.
Iran's deputy education minister, Hamid Nikzad, has announced that seminary-affiliated schools will be established as part of the ministry's "Mosque, School, and Home" program.
Nikzad did not provide further details regarding the project but expressed hope that it will lead to "promoting Iranian-Islamic culture."
Some ministers in President Ebrahim Raisi's hardline administration had earlier stressed the "revolutionary" nature of the education ministry.
Iran's seminaries and the Ministry of Education have been also actively working on another plan called "Amin" which was initially limited to the religious city of Qom but has now extended to other cities.
As part of this project, it was announced that now 21,000 seminary graduates have been recruited to teach in 7 thousand schools.
Also, on Thursday Reza Morad Sahraei, the Minister of Education said that three thousand seminary graduates as well as a group of "Jihadi forces" have been recruited into the education system this year.
He stated that the purpose of the move was to "strengthen the religious foundation of the students".
The integration of religious teachers happens against the backdrop of a “purge” in the education system. In September, it was reported that Iran's Minister of Education had replaced over 20,000 principals.
The "transformation plan," was implemented after many students took part in anti-government demonstrations in 2022.
Later, Sahraei denied allegations about the purging of certain administrators by stating that some are retiring while others are being replaced by new people.
Danish Shipping company Maersk announced it would pause all container shipments through the Red Sea until further notice. German container line Hapag Lloyd said it was considering a similar move.
Houthis have been attacking international shipping since mid-November, as retaliation for the Israeli military operation in Gaza after Iran called for disrupting shipping to Israel. Houthis recently extended their threat to all shipping instead of targeting vessels destined for Israeli ports.
A projectile, believed to be a drone, struck one of two Liberian-flagged vessels, the German-owned Al Jasrah, causing a fire but no injuries, a US official was quoted as saying.
Two ballistic missiles were fired in the second attack, one of which struck a vessel, causing a fire which the crew was working to extinguish, the official said.
A US Navy destroyer was on its way to aid the vessel, the official said, without naming the vessel.
Meanwhile, the United States was reportedly in talks with 12 countries to form a naval coalition to protect international shipping in the Red Sea. It was expected that Washington would make an announcement on Friday. Iran’s defense minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani slammed the US effort saying that the Red Sea is “our region” and warned that “nobody can make a move in a region where we have predominance.”
The Houthis said in a statement that they had fired missiles at two ships - the MSC Alanya and MSC Palatium III. Their statement made no mention of Al Jasrah.
An MSC spokesperson said there had been no attack on the Alanya. Asked about the Houthi claim of an attack on the Palatium III, the spokesperson provided no further comment.
The Houthis said both vessels had been heading to Israel.
However, Alanya and Palatium III both listed Jeddah in Saudi Arabia as their destination, according to data from ship tracking and maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic.
"We will continue to prevent all ships heading to Israeli ports until the food and medicine our people need in the Gaza Strip is brought in," the Houthi statement said.
"We assure all ships heading to all ports of the world apart from Israeli ports that they will suffer no harm and they must keep their identification device on," it said.
Iranian proxy groups in Iraq and Syria have also been targeting US military bases in the two countries since mid-October in retaliation to Washington’s support for Israel after the Hamas terror attack that killed more than 1,000 civilians.
Iran has avoided direct military involvement in support its ally Hamas, despite threatening Israel with destruction for decades. It has also repeatedly said it had no role in the October 7 Hamas operation. However, its proxies, including the Houthis, have launched attacks against US and Israeli targets and international shipping.
Critics of the Biden administration have argued that US deterrence against Iran has failed, and Washington should retaliate against Iranian interests to stop its proxies.
US National Security spokesman John Kirby took Iran to task last week for destabilizing the region by providing financial and military assistance to extremist militant groups, such as Yemeni Houthis.
“We know that the Houthis are supported by Iran, not just politically and philosophically but, of course, with weapon systems,” he stressed.
