TERHAN – Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf has warned that the enemy is planning to conquer the minds and souls of the Iranian youth.

Qalibaf said the enemy has abandoned the military option and replaced it with the plan to impact the youth’s way of thinking. 

He made the remarks in a meeting with clerics in Qom, according to the Iranian parliamentary news agency ICANA. 

“Today, the enemy does not talk about the military option against us, because it knows that we stand at the peak of deterrence in this regard. But it has never given up on us, rather it is trying to take over the mind, soul and mentality of each and every youth and our society,” Qalibaf said. 

He continued, “In this war, if the enemy separates the minds of each of the 80 million people of the country, it is as if it has separated a part of our soil from us.”

The Speaker also said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is facing a hybrid and soft war, which should be commanded and fought by clerics. 

“Our war today is a completely soft and hybrid war, and you are the commanders and warriors of this arena,” he said, addressing the clergy. 

The Islamic Republic countered MEK in Europe

Qalibaf also pointed to the crisis the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) terrorist group has faced recently in Albania, saying that the power of the Islamic Republic made the MEK members homeless. 

“Look at our reaction to the actions of the Hypocrite group (MEK), which played the biggest role in organizing the recent events inside the country and were the stooges of the Zionist regime and the Americans. See the actions of the Islamic Republic last June towards the celebrities and Hypocrites present in Europe, which finally made them to show strange reactions. We saw the case of them getting dealt with in Albania and the cases that happened in France and today they have no place to stay. These issues should not be taken lightly and these issues show the strength of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he stated. 

The MEK group has come to the limelight in recent weeks after the Albanian police raided their camps in line with counterterrorism measures.

The Interior Ministry of Albania announced last month that Albanian police conducted the raid into the headquarters of the MEK group. The raid was carried out based on the Balkan nation’s counter-terrorism laws.

“Today's operation was carried out in accordance with the laws and according to the ruling of the Supreme Court against terrorism,” the statement said. 

The statement added that according to the agreement between Albania and the organization in 2014, the members of this organization had become refugees in this country only for humanitarian reasons, but they have violated this agreement by carrying out terrorist and cyber acts.

The prime minister of Albania has said that his country is no longer willing to continue to host the MEK terrorist group if they want to fight Iran from Albanian soil. 

Edi Rama said the MEK has violated the agreement according to which they were relocated to Albania from Iraq.

Rama pointed out that the MEK has turned Albania into a trench in its campaign against Iran. “Our country is used as a trench in a war that is not ours, it does not work! Of course, they have every right to fight for their freedom, but to do so they must leave Albania,” the prime minister continued.