IMPACT report reveals Iranian schoolbooks advocate martyrdom, anti-Western propaganda

Iran's ayatollah regime’s radical Islamist ideology is deeply embedded in its current school system and textbooks, a new IMPACT-se report reveals. The content advocates violent martyrdom, anti-Western and anti-Jewish militant sentiments in accordance with the late ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s Islamic Revolutionary ideology. 

Based in the United Kingdom and Israel, IMPACT-se is an NGO that advocates for tolerance and monitors the content of school systems worldwide. 

The report says Iranian textbooks reflect an Islamist ideology marked by systematic use of state symbols and demonization of the West, particularly the United States and Israel. For example, the late IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by the U.S. in 2020, is portrayed as a leader who brought strategic gains to the Islamic Republic. One Grade 10 textbook describes Soleimani as a “martyr” who expanded the “resistance” across the Middle East before he was killed by “the terrorist president of the United States,” referring to President Donald Trump.

At the time of his death, Soleimani – considered the second-highest-ranking official in the Iranian system after the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – played a central role in developing Tehran’s network of regional proxy groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen, and allied militias in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. These Iran-backed groups have been responsible for violence across the Middle East for decades.

The report found that Iranian textbooks present the West and especially the U.S. as a threat to Iran and to the Muslim world. The U.S. is presented as the “Great Satan,” just like Israel is portrayed as the “Small Satan.” The content systematically condemns Western values and secularism as harmful and threatening. The U.S. is presented as the leader of the “global arrogance.”

The IMPACT-se report notes that the “Death to America” slogan is used to reinforce the ayatollah regime’s militant ideology in the textbooks. While the West and America are portrayed as “imperialist” in Iranian textbooks, Iran is presented as a defender of the “oppressed” with a specific focus on the “Palestinian” cause against Israel. The anti-Western and anti-Israel content is combined with information concerning military readiness and even how to handle weapons. 

A Grade 2 Sociology textbook presents “martyrdom seeking” as noble and stresses the willingness to “sacrifice one’s life” in the confrontation with America and the West. 

While refraining from explicitly mentioning Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the textbooks nevertheless praise Iran’s “nuclear achievements."

The report assessed that the Iranian textbooks focus on "framing progress as the result of overcoming formidable challenges posed by adversaries and honoring the sacrifices of martyrs." 

The report also revealed that Iranian schools incorporated new indoctrination material such as “We Defend Our Iran” following last year’s Israeli Operation Rising Lion offensive against the ayatollah regime’s nuclear and military assets. 

"The introduction of these materials illustrates how the regime has sought to further militarize the curriculum following the conflict, embedding wartime narratives and ideological justifications for confrontation within the education system," the IMPACT-se report stated. 

The report also noted that the Islamic Republic views the current war with the U.S. and Israel as an existential threat to its continuity. 

"Far from merely educating the next generation, state textbooks embed the ideological worldview of governments and regimes," it said. 

"Understanding that a change in mentality is crucial for future relations with the current Iranian regime, any post-conflict negotiations should look to include educational reform as part of a human rights or social reform package," the report continued.

It added that education policy could play a central role in any long-term effort to reduce tensions.

"Once the flames of war are doused, educational reforms should be used as an indirect but critical measure to de-escalate and deradicalize Iranian views of the 'other' and the West, primarily the US, and provide an opportunity for Iranian children to learn about an alternative future."