Iran’s education minister pledged May 3 to “make sure” not to implement UNESCO’s 2030 education agenda, after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attacked the international accord on May 1.

Education Minister Mohammad Bathayi echoed Khamenei's wrods, saying he will not implement an agenda which aims to alter "national and religious identity" and bring foreign influences.

The document adopted in May 2015 at the World Education Forum represents the commitment of countries and the global education community to a single, renewed education agenda. The document highlights the importance of gender equality and inclusion in education.

Ayatollah Khamenei has opposed the UNESCO education agenda almost from the beginning when in 2017 President Hassan Rouhani’s government accepted it and was planning to follow its guidelines.

In May 2017, Khamenei did not hold back his opposition as he criticized the government and state institutions for having gone along with “2030”. “The basis, in this country, is Islam and the Quran. This is not a land where the defective, corrupt and destructive Western lifestyle will be permitted to expand its influence”, Khamenei said.

Since then, the government refrained from implementing the UNESCO guidelines but Khamenei has continued his periodic attacks.