Mohammad Hosseini

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Mohammad Hosseini (1969–) is an Iranian political dissident, sayyid (descendant of Muhammad), former gameshow host, and the founder of Restart, an Iranian far-right terrorist group inspired by and modeled on QAnon.[1] He represents himself as a savior, a hero, and a man of the people (like Jim Jones or Charles Manson) that will save Iran and topple the current government.

Hosseini and his politics represent a faction of Iranians who adhere to far-right Islamic nationalism (similar to Turkey under Erdogan) and mysticism and a belief in a global conspiracy, perpetrated by outsiders (often implied to be Jews by these groups), and engage in violence to further their agenda. In addition, they are also implicit fascists that utilize schizofascism in their scapegoating techniques, much like QAnon does.[2]

Early days[edit]

Hosseini lived and worked in Iran as a producer, director, and broadcaster for IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting), as a gameshow host for the network and hosting a number of gameshows for several years until he left the network in 2010. It was during this time he left Iran and defected to the United States, where he would become enamored in American politics, mostly amongst the American right. From here he started as a dissident against the Islamic regime.[3]

Trump sycophant[edit]

After arriving to the United States, Hosseini became a big fan of Trump, with the QAnon movement in particular. He was inspired to create an Iranian dissident group of the same kind, and this founded Restart. This group was an Iranian counterpart to QAnon, but as an Islamic organization as well. With the same kind of bigotry, conspiracism, and cultishness as it’s American counterpart, it was designated as a terrorist organization.[4]

Despite the reputation of his group, Hosseini claims that his group has attracted millions of members, mostly from reaching out to Iranian youth, and is the largest Iranian opposition group. Given his criminal record, we hesitate to believe his claims. He has also encouraged his followers to attack Iranian authority groups such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij to cause the collapse of the current regime and install his government instead as part of his grand plan.[5][6]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. QAnon Goes to Iran Foreign Policy Ariane Tabatabai
  2. The people of Iran under the authoritarian pressure Voice of Restart October 6, 2018
  3. Could the “Restart Revolution” Threaten Iran’s Civil Society Movements? Aida Ghajar, February 24, 2018
  4. The App Powering the Uprising in Iran, Where Some Channels Pushed for ViolenceThe Daily Beast Published Jan. 09, 2018 5:04AM EST
  5. The Iranian Game-Show Host Urging His Fans to Burn Mosques Bloomberg Eli Lake, January 3 2018 at 1:19 PM EST
  6. Activist spreads message through Yass on Melbourne–Canberra walk Yass Tribune By Toby Vue, published February 3 2018 - 8:00pm