Ali Khamenei’s cultural strategy is deeply embedded in his perception of the enduring conflict between Iran and the West. For Khamenei, culture is not a peripheral concern; it is the primary battleground where the soft war is waged and either won or lost. His documented speeches, directives, and media policies outline a systematic approach to art and cultural production as key instruments of ideological resilience.
Khamenei has consistently articulated the belief that art is not ideologically neutral. In his view, every film, novel, and song carries within it the assumptions, values, and worldviews of its creators. As such, the consumption of Western cultural products without critical filtration is not a benign act. It is a direct channel through which imperialist ideologies permeate Iranian society.
His speeches across the 1990s and 2000s detail a repeated call for Iranian artists and intellectuals to embrace “cultural jihad.” He emphasises that their role is to fortify Islamic values and actively resist the cultural currents that Western pop culture seeks to normalise: materialism, individualism, and hedonistic lifestyles.
State Support for Cultural Institutions
Khamenei has advocated for state-supported cultural institutions, including film production companies, publishing houses, and state television, to serve as vehicles for this ideological mission. His support for cinema, in particular, is nuanced. While he has imposed strict censorship on films deemed to promote Western values, he has also explicitly encouraged the development of films that explore themes of martyrdom, national identity, and Islamic spirituality.
One of the most striking aspects of Khamenei’s cultural policy is his conditional endorsement of cinema. In a 1997 speech to Iranian filmmakers, he acknowledged the power of cinema as “an art that can change nations.” He stressed that cinema could either erode national identity or fortify it, depending on who controls its narrative direction.
The Supreme Leader has publicly commended films that celebrate the Iran-Iraq War, the Islamic Revolution, and the moral virtues of Islamic society. His approval has extended to directors whose work aligns with these themes, particularly those that depict self-sacrifice, family loyalty, and spiritual transcendence over Western consumerism.
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Khamenei has also criticised the influence of Hollywood, arguing that it systematically promotes violence, sexual permissiveness, and cultural decadence. His administration’s media regulators have tightly controlled which foreign films can be screened and have required heavy editing for content that contradicts Islamic norms.
Despite these restrictions, Khamenei has shown a pragmatic recognition of the potential for film and literature to serve as powerful tools for Iran’s global narrative. Iranian cinema has thrived on the international stage, and this success has been selectively leveraged to project an image of cultural sophistication that serves the state’s diplomatic objectives.
Ayatollah Khamenei and his love for literature
Khamenei’s documented engagement with literature is deeply personal and politically strategic. Throughout his speeches, he references poetry and prose not merely as artistic pursuits but as cultural repositories of identity and resistance. He frequently cites Persian poets like Hafez, Rumi, and Ferdowsi, whose works he positions as cornerstones of Iran’s spiritual heritage.
His endorsement extends to contemporary writers who explore themes of anti-imperialism, social justice, and Islamic solidarity. In particular, Khamenei has encouraged the production of literature that addresses the lived experiences of war veterans, the suffering of Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements, and the moral dilemmas faced by Muslims under Western hegemony.
He has used literature as a platform to promote what he describes as the “authentic narrative” of the Islamic world. His directives to Iranian publishing houses emphasise the importance of books that confront Western narratives and offer indigenous perspectives.
Khamenei’s policies on music and performance arts reflect his broader cultural conservatism. While he has allowed certain forms of traditional Iranian music to flourish, he has consistently restricted the import and domestic production of Western pop music. His public statements frame much of Western music as psychologically corrosive and spiritually vacuous. He has, however, allowed carefully curated musical performances that reinforce cultural and religious values, especially those associated with national celebrations or religious commemorations.
Khamenei has aligned cultural institutions with the goals of the Iranian State
Under Khamenei’s leadership, cultural institutions have been systematically aligned with the goals of the Islamic Republic. The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, a powerful body under his oversight, has played a central role in shaping media policy, educational curricula, and public broadcasting.
These institutions actively promote content that supports the Islamic Republic’s ideological framework while suppressing dissenting narratives. Khamenei’s cultural control extends to the regulation of translations, ensuring that foreign books and films introduced into Iran are carefully vetted to prevent what he describes as “subtle forms of Western infiltration.”
The strategy of Khamenei in matters of culture is not born of mere fear or retreat, but of ambition cloaked in resistance. Like any king who understands the nature of dominion, he wages a war not only with arms but with ideas, striking at the heart of the imperial imagination that sustains his enemies. His praise of books, poems, and films that wound the pride of America, Israel, and the Western courts is not flattery but calculation. He seeks to craft a discourse in which Iran stands not as a pariah, but as a citadel, unyielding in spirit, uncorrupted in soul.
Through words cast into the digital sea, especially in the language of the Western merchant and magistrate, he offers aphorisms and allegories not merely to explain Iran, but to elevate it. In doing so, he places culture in the service of the state and makes language a vassal to the crown. For Khamenei, there can be no sovereignty where the soul of the nation chants foreign hymns. Therefore, he binds the fate of Iran not only to its borders, but to its ability to resist, reject, and remake the culture of its rivals.
