Iranian religious scholar Naser Naghavian said in an interview that was uploaded to the DidarNews.ir website on November 28, 2022 that at least 50% of Iranians are object to the policies of the regime, and that the regime has deeper problems than women not wearing hijabs. He said that the regime should use its morality police to fight the incompetence, inefficiency, and bribery in the government agencies, and he pointed out that there has never been a referendum to determine the Iranian people’s preferred policy towards the United States, which might in fact be conciliatory. In addition, he suggested that the next time a Supreme Leader is selected, his term should be limited like the president’s. For more about Naser Naghavian, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 9249.

Former Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said on a January 8, 2023 show on NBN TV (Lebanon) that if the Americans want to give Israel some relief from Hizbullah, than they should establish a Palestinian state and have Israel withdraw from the Shebaa Farms, since this would unite the Lebanese people against Hizbullah. He said that all Lebanese people reject America’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He also asked how Christians are expected to normalize relations with Israel, which considers them to be its number-one enemy because they believe that the Jews killed Jesus. For more about Marwan Charbel, see MEMRI TV Clips Nos. 9630, 9476, 7374.

IRGC Commander-in-Chief General Hossein Salami said in a January 14, 2023 public address in which he spoke about the publication of cartoons mocking Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, that the Muslims will “sooner or later” exact revenge, like they had against author Salman Rushdie. He added: “Do not mess with the Muslims.” General Salami’s address aired on Hamoon TV (Iran).