We must have the people on our side, Pezeshkian tells Iran's intelligence chiefs

The Iranian president held a meeting with some of the Ministry of Intelligence's top officials on Tuesday, warning them that without the support of the people, the country cannot confront foreign enemies.

"If we have the people with us, no power can ground us, and we will not encounter problems. We must have the people on our side and consider the people's problems as our own and have solutions for them," Masoud Pezeshkian said during the meeting held on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of the ministry.

Iran's intelligence apparatus is comprised of several parallel agencies overseen by different state bodies.

The Ministry of Intelligence, established shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was the first. It was later joined by intelligence organizations within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the police. Most recently, in 2023, the Judiciary established its own intelligence department, creating a fourth parallel structure.

President Pezeshkian emphasized the need to foster hope in society, saying, "We must do something so that people become hopeful about the government and about the future of the country,” according to a readout of the meeting from his office.

Urging closer scrutiny of officials' performance, Pezeshkian added, "We must assess whether those entrusted with responsibility have performed effectively. We must address why problems remain despite our capabilities and entrust the country to capable and expert managers."

Amid widespread public discontent over power outages and energy shortages disrupting businesses and daily life in Iran, the Judiciary has instructed provincial prosecutors to coordinate with intelligence, security, and law enforcement agencies to prevent unrest as was seen in 2019 and 2022.

The UN fact-finding mission, established following the 2022 nationwide protests, has accused Iran's intelligence apparatus, including the Ministry of Intelligence, of human rights violations, including the extraction of forced confessions from political prisoners.

The Iranian security apparatus, which also has smaller intelligence entities, has a Council for Intelligence Coordination comprised of at least 13 to 16 separate active intelligence agencies, according to different sources.

Most of these parallel agencies have strong ties with the IRGC and the judiciary as well as the office of the Supreme Leader. The intelligence minister, the interior minister, foreign minister, and the country’s chief justice are members of the body. The IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, and its Intelligence Protection Organization, and their counterparts in the traditional Army and Police force as well as cyber police are some of the other members.