News

The Iranian government said it will send hundreds of clerics into Tehran's schools this fall to fight Western influence and the appeal of the political opposition, local newspapers reported Sunday.

The move is seen as an attempt by the government to tighten its grip on the schools in the aftermath of last year's disputed presidential elections in which many Iranian youth flocked to the opposition.

Mohammed Boniadi, deputy director of the Tehran education department, said some 1,000 clerics will descend on the schools of the capital to make students aware of "opposition plots and arrogance," a reference to the attitude of Western nations.