During a January 23, 2026 lecture, Dearborn-based Shiite Islamic scholar Usama Abdulghani dismissed recent anti-regime protests in Iran as foreign-directed unrest and accused protesters of working on behalf of Israel and the US.
Abdulghani, the spiritual leader of the Hadi Institute and its affiliated Montessori school, described the demonstrations as “Mossad riots,” claiming the participants were “thugs” who were “fighting for Benjamin Netanyahu.” He alleged that Iranian authorities disrupted Starlink, preventing protesters from communicating with handlers in Tel Aviv and Langley, adding that Iran was able to “handle its business” and that the situation would not resemble the previous “Twelve-Day War.”
The lecture video shows Shiite poet Hassan Salamey—previously associated with the Hadi Institute—filming Abdulghani’s remarks. The Hadi Institute has hosted multiple events supportive of the Iranian regime, Ruhollah Khomeini, and Qasem Soleimani, and regularly refers to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei as “our Leader.”
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