Addressing a crowd in the northern city of Rasht, the Public Relations Department General of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, General Ramezan Sharif, declared that "the enemy has grown disappointed at military confrontation with the Islamic Republic and has now resorted to a clash of wills, views and insights to change the Iranian nation's behavior," Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
Sharif went on to cite Western media outlets, their websites and satellites as being complicit in an insidious propaganda campaign to undermine the confidence of Iran's citizens and spread disinformation about its interests. These fierce claims from the IRGC's PR department come amid bilateral talks between the US and Iran concerning the latter's nuclear ambitions as well as Iran's limited cooperation with Western forces against the Islamic State in Iraq, a joint military effort that US Secretary of State has described as "positive."
The head of the IRGC's PR Department also gave special attention to the British Broadcasting Channel. At another meeting in the Southern city of Bushehr, Sharif alleged that "The BBC carries out many acts against Iran behind the scenes."
In 2011 Iran's security services confirmed that they had arrested a network allegedly wiring sensitive information to the BBC and providing logistical support to the country's enemies. Iran's Public Relations office added that these arrests were made amid a massive intelligence gathering effort both inside and outside Iran in past months by its intelligence forces.
Despite these attempts to shake Iran's resolve, Sharif,in a refrain bizarrely similar to one often made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Israel, said that Iran is "the island of stability in the region" amid threats and chaos.