Israel isn't the Palestinians'only enemy- The Iranian beast is another
Fox News, January 9, 2009
Alireza Jafarzadeh (Foreign Affairs Analyst)
The loss of innocent lives in Gaza is deplorable.
Behind the horrific scenes, a culprit of the current crisis
crouches unscathed—-the ruling regime in Iran. This beast,
which seeks to establish an “Islamic” empire by exporting
its brand of Islamic fundamentalism throughout the region,
has in many ways been nurtured and emboldened by the
appeasement policies of the past three decades. And for
those wrong-headed policies toward the ayatollahs’ regime,
the West shares in the responsibility for the bloodshed and
carnage inflicted on the Middle East.
Indeed, Tehran has been a primary source of conflict and
bloodshed in the region since 1979. It has waged war by
proxy from Lebanon to Iraq to Palestine, torpedoing any
progress toward lasting peace and stability. We have all
heard the rhetoric, and seen the ayatollahs shed crocodile
tears for the people of Palestine. Despite deplorable
attacks by Israel against innocent people in Gaza,
particularly women and children, the clerical regime ruling
Iran is among the Palestinians’ worst enemies, and has been
the main obstacle to the goals and legitimate demands of the
Palestinian people over the past three decades.
It’s no surprise that Tehran’s strategy for hijacking the
Middle East peace process has long focused on dividing and
disintegrating the body politic in Palestine and isolating
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Palestinian Authority’s envoy in Cairo, Nabil Amr, told
Al Arabia TV that in recent years Tehran had invested much
to foment schism by dispatching support of all kinds for
Hamas.
The New York Times reports that since taking control of Gaza
eighteen months ago, Hamas has gained access to longer range
rockets. The Times reports that much of these new
capabilities have been provided by Iran and that “there was
evidence that at least some Hamas fighters might also have
been schooled in urban assault tactics at Iranian camps run
by the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.”
Tehran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hassan Ghashghavi told
the state-run media that the missile range of Hamas has
tripled and that “the real missile capability of Hamas is
yet to be displayed.” Tehran’s Intelligence Minister, Mohsen
Ejeie called on all Islamic countries to send financial and
arms assistance to Gaza. Kazem Jalali, the rapporteur of
National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the
regime’s parliament told the state-run television that
Tehran is already “using all its potential and capability’
to provide assistance to Gaza.
In a commentary in the state-run Kayhan newspaper, Hussein
Shariatmadari, the representative of the supreme leader Ali
Khamene’i, called for the expansion of Tehran’s terrorism
beyond the region. He wrote “The time has arrived for
revenge.” Instead of a ceasefire, he asked, “couldn’t some
of the Arab leaders be attacked easily? The interests of
America, England, Germany, and other supporters of Israel
are within easy range.”
Devoid of any ideological or political capacity to
contribute constructively to Iran’s own people or the
region, Tehran seeks a major show of regional prowess by
proxy. Iran’s presidential election in June 2009 is fast
approaching, while deepening political and economic turmoil
has intensified the factional infighting at the apex of the
leadership. Similarly the international isolation as a
consequence of Tehran’s appalling human rights abuses and
breach of four UN Security Council resolutions is deeply
felt.
Meanwhile, recent setbacks in Iraq — including the failure
to prevent the signing of the Status of Forces Agreement
between Washington and Baghdad — have further reinforced
Tehran leaders’ view that their significant gains in Iraq
could soon be reversed in the upcoming Iraqi provincial
elections.
These setbacks may explain why the ayatollahs are already
using the bloodshed in Gaza to suppress pro-democracy
dissident in Iranian university campuses. The mouthpiece of
the supreme leader, Ali Khamene’i, has called for crackdown
on student groups, and has even taken aim at other
state-controlled media that did not mimic the “official”
position on Gaza. According to the New York Times, Kayhan
Daily endorsed shutting down another newspaper, named
Kargozaran, and called for coercion of non-conformist
students.
Through their rhetoric and their actions, Iran leaders have
demonstrated that their role in the current conflict is more
about weakening the peace process and projecting Tehran’s
regional reach. Last week, state-organized mobs in Tehran
and Mashhad launched attacks against the diplomatic
facilities of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. In a similar
state-sponsored event, the mob called for a million dollar
reward for the assassination of Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak.
Supreme Leader Khamene’i has decreed anyone dying fighting
in Gaza as a “martyr” and according to state-run media and
blogs, some 70 thousands individuals are claimed to have
registered to be dispatched to Gaze to fight and take part
in “martyrdom operations.”
Even more menacing is Tehran’s recent deployment of rockets
abroad. According to information revealed by the democratic
opposition coalition, National Council of Resistance of Iran
(NCRI), the African Affairs branch of the Qods Force, the
terrorist arm of the regime, has recently installed
long-range and anti-aircraft missiles, and has deployed a
number of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
in the outskirts of Eritrea’s Port of Assab near the Red
Sea. With this deployment, Tehran aims to gain strategic
control over the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which connects the
Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.
The NCRI web site reports that “These forces and equipment
have been transferred to the region using the regime’s
submarines… The agreement and the deployment of forces and
long-range missiles in the Port of Assab have been carried
out under the guise of renovating the port’s oil refinery.”
Clearly, as long as the ayatollahs are able to derail peace
through their proxies, a just, sustainable solution is
unattainable. Much like Iraq, where there cannot and will
not be a meaningful solution of democracy, stability and
national reconciliation until Tehran’s influence is
contained.
We know, too little too late, that turning a blind eye to
Tehran’s terrorist spectacles in 1983 in Lebanon and in 1996
in Saudi Arabia –- just to name a few –- emboldened the
mullahs and their terrorist proxies across the region. Not
only was Tehran not punished for its deliberate actions
resulting in great loss of life, it was rewarded with
lucrative trade deals.
The mullahs’ brand of Islamic fundamentalism cannot be
defeated by conventional diplomacy or military force. Its
perceived strength will fade away when Iran’s internal,
anti-fundamentalist, democratic, moderate forces are
unshackled and the beast is brought down from within by
Iranians.
Alireza Jafarzadeh is a FOX News Channel Foreign Affairs
Analyst and the author of "The
Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear
Crisis" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
Jafarzadeh has revealed Iran's terrorist network in Iraq and
its terror training camps since 2003. He first disclosed the
existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and the
Arak heavy water facility in August 2002.
