The secretary of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (SCCR), Saeed Reza Ameli announced on Monday, September 13, that the President of the Iranian regime, Ebrahim Raisi has officially cancelled Iran’s adherence to the UNESCO 2030 Educational Agenda.
In his ruling to repeal the 2030 Document, Raisi called on all documents, declarations, and regulations contrary to fundamental principles of the regime’s education system, the SCCR and the parliament to be canceled for good.
Ameli explained that ‘many international laws are designed within the framework of a liberal thinking structure’ and therefore they neglect to include the “existential role of God and secularism and materialism.” He stated that because of this, “you do not see education and a cultural system that relies on religious laws and theological regulations.”
The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development features a list of UNESCO’s standards that are designed to teach children the basics of the topics of the environment, human rights, and the elimination of discrimination in society.
UNESCO laid out, on their website, that the goal of the 2030 agenda is to ‘empower people with the knowledge, skills, and values to live in dignity, build their lives and contribute to their societies’.
The UN General Assembly adopted this document in September 2015. Their aim was to ensure that the quality of education around the world is greatly improved. Many member states willing signed the document and agreed to improve the education in their own countries, as well as improving protective measures for children against abuse, and promote gender equality.
In a meeting in 2017, Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime, Ali Khamenei blasted the 2030 agenda saying, “The UNESCO 2030 education agenda and the like are not agendas that the Islamic Republic of Iran should have to surrender and submit to.”
He also posted on his website, ‘Why should a so-called “International” community, which is definitely infiltrated by the superpowers, have the right to make decisions for nations around the world regarding their various cultures?’.
Prior to the meeting, 151 members of the Iranian parliament had signed a letter, addressed to then-President Hassan Rouhani demanding that the 2030 agenda should be officially withdrawn. Four years later, this ruling has now been enforced. Ameli explained that by the end of Rouhani’s presidential administration, the government was dealing with a backlog of 29 resolutions of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, which Raisi’s administration is to put into action.
While different administrations throughout the Iranian regime’s history have mocked international conventions and human rights treaties by violating them in the name of a ‘religious democracy’, canceling and refusing such a commitment in its flimsiest forms just indicates the antagonism between the current rulers and human rights.
The misogynism and oppression of Iranian women and the Iranian youth have always been a feature of the Iranian regime, and this rejection is just the latest blow in their struggles.
The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is evidently doing all he can to hold onto his power, especially as there is a potential merger between the Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) brewing.
