Tehran, Iran – Iran’s hardline-dominated parliament has approved the broad outlines of a plan presented as a means of combatting foreign “infiltration”, with a consequential focus on academia, media and the cultural sector. Proponents have presented it as an effort to complement another tough law punishing espionage passed after last year’s 12-day war with Israel and the United States to bolster wartime national security. The controversy around the plan this week erupted as the deadline of a memorandum of understanding with Washington expired, amid prospects of further military escalation in the current US-Israel war on Iran.
But Ruhollah Nejabat, a hardline member of parliament from Shiraz, said the plan was first approved earlier this year to counter the “influence” of Iran’s enemies. The envisioned legislation, which was approved during a remote parliamentary session on Sunday, has alarmed the public, experts and even elements within the government, as it would further curtail personal freedoms. A 19-article draft of the bill was previously published by state-linked media, with an updated 33-article version released on Wednesday.
Before becoming law, the bill needs final ratification by parliament, as well as by a powerful 12-member constitutional watchdog known as the Guardian Council – a process that could take weeks or months. The general principles approved by hardline lawmakers, who have dominated parliament since 2020 after elections marked by a historically low turnout and candidate disqualifications, establish broad restrictions on contact with foreign countries. The updated version of the bill released on Wednesday provides more information about what could be in the final law, if it is eventually passed.
The prospective bill defines the “activity” with foreign counterparts that it wishes to control as including publishing, statistics, scholarships, scientific cooperation, media work, research samples, money, goods and services, legal advice and artistic production. It would group countries into three tiers, according to how much scrutiny authorities would place on contact with them, with the US and Israel expected to be placed in the highest tier. The Ministry of Interior would then establish a portal where a broad range of foreign-linked activities – including exchanging reports, data or statistics – would have to be registered.
Foreign-supported workshops, courses or classes could lead to imprisonment for organisers and possible punishment for participants. NGOs, parties and associations would have to register, and in some cases seek approval for, foreign funds, contracts, training or other benefits, or risk getting dissolved. Existing foreign-linked activities would have to be registered within three months of the portal becoming operational.
The education, science and health ministries must also incorporate “enemy infiltration” awareness and media literacy into books and curricula, with input from the Ministry of Intelligence and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. An article in the plan says that any interaction or cooperation with foreign media requires both registration and prior permission. Unauthorised conversations or interviews with media considered hostile by the Islamic Republic are also prohibited, as are media owned, managed or funded by foreign agents connected to countries placed in the top two tiers.
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