Wash. Inst.:

While the severity of the Sunni extremist threat inside Iran is debatable, the regime's recent operations against suspected terrorists highlight its pattern of exploiting sectarian sentiment to bolster its regional adventurism.

On June 14, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence launched a series of operations leading to the arrest of ten "Wahhabi takfiri terrorists" in Tehran and three other provinces. Following the initial announcement of the crackdown on June 19, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi provided further details about the captured suspects two days later. According to him, "their plan was to attack several crowded spots using remote bombs and car bombs"; they had prepared a list of fifty targets in all. Agents also reportedly seized about one kilogram of explosive material and used "sophisticated measures" to prevent the delivery of two tons more to "terrorists." Video clips claiming to show the sting have been posted to the website of Fars News, a media outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The actual scope and severity of this threat remain uncertain for now, but the rhetoric surrounding the regime's response holds clear domestic implications. In addition to treating terrorist infiltration as a political football in recent years, various officials have been using loaded words like "takfir" to rally the public behind Tehran's sectarian regional agenda.

This longstanding propaganda campaign has been so successful in recent years that even Qasem Soleimani -- head of the IRGC's Qods Force and thus the poster boy for foreign interventionism -- has become a national hero in the eyes of many Iranians, including those who otherwise oppose the regime's policies.

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