When Benny Sabti was a child growing up in Iran, he remembers receiving an unusual prize at school. ‘For being an excellent student, I received a Persian translation of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler,’ Sabti told Fox News Digital. ‘They translated Hitler’s book into Persian and distributed it to students.’

The experience stayed with him. Looking back, Sabti, now an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Israel, says it reflected a broader effort by Iran’s ruling clerical establishment to shape how young Iranians viewed politics, religion and the world around them.

Schools, mosques, workplaces and media all became part of an ideological ecosystem designed to reinforce loyalty to the regime. But critics of Iran’s leadership say religion itself was often not the ultimate goal.

‘Faith for them is their tool,’ Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist and editor of the Iran So Far Away Substack, told Fox News Digital. ‘It’s not the end all to be all. It’s a tool that they can hide behind so that they can carry out all their criminalities.’

Religion and power

The Islamic Republic was founded on the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, or ‘guardianship of the Islamic jurist,’ which places ultimate political and religious authority in the hands of the country’s supreme leader.

But Zand argues that in practice the system functions less as a purely religious project and more as a mechanism of political control. ‘It’s more like a mafia,’ she said. ‘They use faith in order to keep people down.’

According to Zand, ideology is reinforced through a mix of financial incentives and intimidation. ‘They tried by incentive and money and buying people,’ she said.

Programs tied to the Basij, a militia affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have often provided benefits such as jobs, housing and education to families aligned with the regime.

‘If you are poor and you join the Basij, they give you benefits,’ Zand said. ‘But you have to go along with whatever it is that they offer you.’

Ideology embedded in daily life

Sabti says the Islamic Republic built a vast network designed to reinforce ideology in everyday life. ‘In banks, offices, public spaces and even in the bazaars, regime representatives walk between shops telling people it is time to pray and checking who is not attending,’ Sabti said.

Mosques themselves are closely integrated into the political system. Friday prayer leaders often deliver sermons aligned with government messaging.

‘There are 16 propaganda bodies in Iran,’ Sabti said, describing a network of state institutions responsible for spreading the regime’s interpretation of Islam and the ideals of the Islamic Revolution.

Some institutions also focus on exporting that ideology abroad. ‘There is a university dedicated to converting Sunnis to Shiism,’ he said. ‘They bring people from Africa and South America to Iran, convert them to Shiism and send them back to export the Shiite Islamic revolution.’

Indoctrination in schools

Schools play a central role in the regime’s ideological system.

‘Schools are heavily indoctrinated,’ Sabti said. ‘In civil studies books, Islam was promoted as superior to all other ideologies.’

Religious messaging appears across the curriculum. ‘You cannot separate any school subject from Islam,’ Sabti said. ‘Not history, not geography. Everything is mixed with ideology. The only thing missing was adding it to mathematics.’

For Sabti, the Mein Kampf episode symbolized the ideological environment students were exposed to. The message, he said, reinforced hostility toward perceived enemies and embedded a political worldview from an early age.

Ideology and hypocrisy

Sabti says the credibility of the system is also undermined by the behavior of Iran’s own elites. ‘You can see it in the second generation,’ he said. ‘Their children live abroad while the elites live in palaces in Iran and in other countries. It is hypocrisy.’

Zand says ideology has always been reinforced by intimidation. ‘They make examples out of people in the most vicious possible way,’ she said. ‘It’s fear and manipulation.’

According to Zand, that atmosphere of fear shapes daily life for many Iranians. ‘Everybody is afraid of the police,’ she said. ‘Everybody is afraid of their neighbors.’

An ideology losing its grip

Despite the regime’s extensive ideological machinery, Sabti believes many Iranians never fully accepted the worldview the government tried to impose.

‘Over the years, the indoctrination has stopped working,’ he said. ‘Most of the public does not truly believe it.’

Still, the Islamic Republic remains in power. ‘The regime maintains control through money, weapons and propaganda,’ Sabti said.

Zand agrees the system never fully reshaped Iranian society. Many people, she said, complied outwardly simply to avoid punishment.

‘They won’t have a problem to transfer as long as they realize that the new Iran has no room for the violence and the horrifying characteristics of the Islamist regime,’ Zand told Fox News Digital.

She said that beneath the surface, Iran’s cultural identity remained intact even after decades of pressure from the state.

President Donald Trump on Friday said the U.S. is ‘doing very well’ in Iran, nearly a week after the military coordinated with Israel on airstrikes in Tehran that left its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dead.

‘Somebody said, ‘How would you score it from zero to 10?’ I said, ‘I’d give it a 12 to a 15.’ Their army is gone. Their navy is gone. Their communications are gone. Their leaders are gone,’ Trump said. ‘Two sets of their leaders.’

The president made the remarks after Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked at the end of a White House college sports roundtable what was motivating Trump to hold the roundtable ‘because there is a lot of other stuff going on in the world.’

‘That’s right,’ Trump agreed, adding that Iran’s air force has been ‘wiped out entirely. Think of it. They have 32 ships. All 32 are at the bottom of the ocean. Other than that, they’re doing very well.’

‘Our military is doing phenomenally,’ he said. ‘The situation with a very bad and very sick group of leaders who were killing a lot of people. A lot of our people were being killed or were being maimed. … And we had a choice. We could take it and go on like that for years or do something about it. And we did something about it.’

Trump added that ‘people are very impressed with our military, and they admire our military with what happened in Venezuela, what’s happening now, what’s happened with the B-2 bombers before this, where they took out the nuclear capability or potential of Iran.

‘I think we’re, right now, we’re a country that’s more respected than we’ve ever been respected before.’

Doocy also told the president earlier, ‘It sounds like the Russians are helping Iran target and attack Americans now.’

‘That’s an easy problem compared to what we’re doing here,’ Trump said, referring to college sports, calling it a ‘stupid question to be asking at this time. We’re talking about something else.’

Earlier Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. won’t accept any deal with Iran ‘except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’

‘After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,’ Trump wrote. 

‘IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. ‘MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).’’

Former President Joe Biden told mourners at Rev. Jesse Jackson’s memorial service Friday that he is ‘a h— of a lot smarter than most of you,’ a pointed remark that stood out during his tribute to the late civil rights leader.

Biden made the comment while recounting how he was mocked as a child for his stutter and how speech impediments are often mistaken for a lack of intelligence.

‘If I told you I had a cleft palate or clubfoot, none of you would have laughed,’ Biden said. ‘But it’s okay to laugh at stuttering. … It’s the one place where people think you’re stupid.’

‘Oh, really? I’m a h— of a lot smarter than most of you,’ he added, before quickly pivoting back to his broader point. ‘But all kidding aside, it makes you feel really small.’

The remark came during a memorial service in Chicago that brought together prominent Democratic leaders and civil rights figures to honor Jackson’s decades-long political influence.

Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton attended the service, along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Rev. Al Sharpton.

The event was held at the 10,000-seat House of Hope arena, where hundreds gathered to celebrate Jackson’s life and legacy.

Jackson, who died at 84, rose to prominence as a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. He later founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and mounted two Democratic presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 that expanded Black voter participation and reshaped the party’s electoral coalition.

Throughout the service, speakers praised Jackson’s ability to build political alliances and elevate issues affecting marginalized communities.

Biden, who has frequently spoken about working to overcome his childhood stutter, framed his remarks around resilience and the lasting impact of being ridiculed as a young person.

His ‘smarter than most of you’ line was quickly added to a growing list of out-of-context gaffes for the former President as social media users weighed in online.

Under one repost of the viral moment from user Libs of TikTok, one commenter wrote, ‘That’s a strange line to deliver at a memorial service.’

Another quipped, ‘Never ending comedy from this guy. So happy he’s back in public.’

Outside of Biden’s remarks, the memorial largely focused on Jackson’s legacy as a civil rights leader who helped shape the modern Democratic Party and broaden political participation in the United States.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond, Bradford Betz, and Patrick McGovern contributed to this reporting.

Kristi Noem will reportedly join President Donald Trump and 12 Latin American leaders at his resort in Florida for a ‘Shield of the Americas’ summit Saturday after her ouster as the Secretary of Homeland Security and appointment by President Donald Trump to be special envoy for the new coalition of nations. 

On Thursday, Trump announced Noem would be exiting her role as Homeland Security secretary and would be appointed a Special Envoy for the ‘Shield of the Americas,’ a summit for which will be held at the president’s resort in Doral, Florida, on Saturday. The new coalition of 13 countries has been formed to advance strategies that will tackle mass illegal immigration, narco-terrorist gangs and cartels. 

‘After years of neglect, President Trump established the ‘Donroe Doctrine’ to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere. His efforts have been a tremendous success – our southern border is secure, Latin American countries are working with us to defeat the cartels, and illegitimate dictator Nicolas Maduro is facing justice for his crimes in the Southern District of New York – ushering in historic economic cooperation with Venezuela,’ said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly ahead of the summit. 

‘The President has successfully strengthened our relationships in our own backyard to make the entire region safer and more stable, and this weekend’s ‘Shield of the Americas’ Summit will encapsulate all of his work to Make America, and our partners, Strong Again,’ she continued.

Members of Trump’s Cabinet, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, will also be at the Saturday summit. 

The leaders from other nations who will be present are Argentina’s Javier Milei, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele Ortez, Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz Pereira, Costa Rica’s Rodrigo Chaves Robles, Panama’s José Raúl Mulino Quintero, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Chile’s Jose Antonio Kast, the Dominican Republic’s Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, Ecuador’s Daniel Roy Gilchrist Noboa Azín, Guyana’s Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Honduras’ Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura, and Paraguay’s Santiago Peña.

Noem confirmed Friday, speaking from Nashville, that she will be at the summit, according to the Associated Press. Noem reportedly added that the president will announce ‘a big agreement’ detailing ‘how we’re going to go after cartels and drug trafficking in the entire Western Hemisphere.’ 

On Friday, Hegseth led a strategic conference in Doral with representatives of 17 different Caribbean, Central American and South American countries throughout the Western Hemisphere. During the conference, they signed a joint security declaration, reaffirming their commitment to peace and sovereignty in the region. According to a source familiar with the plans for the summit, the president plans to celebrate this achievement with attendees.

‘Secretary Noem helped usher in the most secure border in history, deported hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal aliens, and executed record-setting counter-drug operations against cartels. All of this great experience positions Noem well to ensure American preeminence in the entire Western Hemisphere in her new role as Special Envoy to the Shield of the Americas,’ White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said. ‘This historic new security initiative, led by Secretary Noem, will advance cutting-edge strategies to defeat narco-terrorist cartels and stop illegal mass migration to make America and the entire Western Hemisphere safer.’

On Thursday, Rubio said he looked forward to working with Noem as Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, and echoed the comments from the White House about her experience.

‘Kristi has achieved incredible results as Secretary of Homeland Security and will be a tremendous asset in our effort to promote security and prosperity in the Western Hemisphere,’ Rubio said on X after Trump named Noem to her new post. 

A Pakistani man convicted Friday of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump and other politicians told an FBI agent he thought Iran ‘was responsible’ for the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Asif Merchant, 47, told the FBI agent, Jacqueline Smith, that the incident ‘was the same thing he was sent here to do,’ Smith testified during Merchant’s trial. Merchant told jurors the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sent him on a ‘mission’ to kill U.S. politicians, including by telling him to attend a Republican rally.

Merchant was arrested July 12, 2024, one day prior to the shooting in Butler, where Thomas Crooks fired several shots into a rally crowd, killing one and grazing Trump’s ear. 

The FBI has said repeatedly it found no evidence that Crooks had co-conspirators or that any foreign actors were involved in the incident.

Merchant, who was convicted by a jury of murder-for-hire and attempting to commit terrorism, testified that Trump was not his only target, telling jurors then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley were also on his list. He claimed he only took part in the plot, which was foiled by the FBI before coming to fruition, because Iran’s IRGC warned it would target his family.

‘I had no other options,’ Merchant said. ‘My family was threatened.’

Merchant now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. His sentence will be determined at a later hearing.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that Merchant ‘landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement.’

‘The Department of Justice will remain ever-vigilant to protect Americans, prosecute terrorists, and halt acts of terrorism before they happen,’ Bondi said.

Merchant was arrested after he was recorded on camera outlining a plot on a napkin to kill a politician with a person who turned out to be an FBI informant. Federal prosecutors showed video during the trial of Merchant speaking to the informant. The prosecutors said Merchant also tried to hire two hit men and pay them $5,000, but the men turned out to be federal agents posing as assassins.

Smith, the FBI agent who met with Merchant after his arrest, said Merchant never conveyed that he feared for his family. Merchant said he wanted to do intelligence work and be paid for it, Smith said.

The FBI agent also said Merchant was told by an Iranian handler to attend a Republican political rally to scope out security. But Merchant was worried about being identified, so he watched the rally online instead.

Merchant’s defense team told jurors their client, who has two wives, was a family man and cared deeply about his faith and that he intentionally acted carelessly because he wanted to be caught.

In their closing arguments, defense lawyers said Merchant had his hand forced in the operation, thinking his family would be harmed if he did not cooperate. Additionally, the lawyers cited several instances in which Merchant’s actions as an intelligence operator were little more than incompetent.

Fox News’ Danielle Cavaliere and Brendan McDonald contributed.