Iranian Campaign to Promote Persian Language in Northeastern Syria

 Iran has begun to intensify its efforts to recruit children and teach them the Persian language (Photo: SOHR).
Iran has begun to intensify its efforts to recruit children and teach them the Persian language (Photo: SOHR).
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Iranian Campaign to Promote Persian Language in Northeastern Syria

 Iran has begun to intensify its efforts to recruit children and teach them the Persian language (Photo: SOHR).
Iran has begun to intensify its efforts to recruit children and teach them the Persian language (Photo: SOHR).

Iran has begun to intensify its efforts to recruit children and teach them the Persian language in its areas of influence, especially in northeastern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Monday that Iran was deploying all efforts to consolidate its presence in Syria in major aspects of life.

“Iran continues its efforts to strengthen its presence in Syria through attracting the Syrian men, women, youth and children, by instilling its ideology in the Syrian society,” the Observatory said on its website.

In this context, SOHR sources in al-Mayadeen city, the capital of the Iranian forces and their proxy militias in west Euphrates region, have reported that the “Iranian Cultural Center” started a free course dubbed “Bara’em al-Atfal” (Children Buds) for teaching Syrian children Persian language. This is the second course of its kind, as the first one was held in mid-September 2020.

Like the earlier course, the Cultural Center has promised to give cash rewards of one million Syrian pounds each to every children who could pass the Persian language test with an excellent grade. Tens of children headed to the Culture Center, SOHR reported.

In December, SOHR sources said that the Iranian Cultural Center in Deir Ezzor city arranged a trip for school students to “Al-Asdeqaa Park” in Hawija Sakr area, as a part of the Iranians’ attempts to impress residents and instill their ideology in the Syrian society in areas under their control in Deir Ezzor province.

The Iranian Cultural Center in al-Mayadeen launched free evening courses, on Sep. 15, aimed at teaching primary-school students the Persian language. Officials at the Center informed students and their parents that a cash reward of one million Syrian pounds will be given to every children who could pass the Persian language test with an excellent grade.



Iran Says 2 More High-ranking Generals Killed in Israeli Strikes

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows an Iranian missile base near Tabriz, Iran, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows an Iranian missile base near Tabriz, Iran, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
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Iran Says 2 More High-ranking Generals Killed in Israeli Strikes

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows an Iranian missile base near Tabriz, Iran, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows an Iranian missile base near Tabriz, Iran, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Iran confirmed on Saturday that two additional high-ranking generals were killed in Israeli strikes on the country.

Iranian state television identified the two killed as Gen. Gholamreza Mehrabi, the deputy of intelligence for the armed forces’ general staff, and Gen. Mehdi Rabbani, the deputy of operations.

It did not say where the men were killed.

Israel’s strikes on Friday killed multiple high-ranking officers within Iran’s armed forces, including the chief of staff of the army and the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Israel's military said Saturday it was striking dozens of missile launchers in Iran, after announcing it had targeted air defenses with a wave of strikes in the Tehran area overnight.

The Israeli air force "continues striking dozens of surface-to-surface missile launchers in Iran,” the military said in a statement.

Iran's state TV reported on Saturday that around 60 people, including 20 children, were killed in an Israeli attack on a housing complex in the Iranian capital.