By: Heshmat Alavi
mullah proxiesThe death of Iran’s most senior military commander, General Hamedani , head of Iran Revolutionary Guard forces in Syria, shows how Tehran’s bubble-like expansion has burst and ended not only in Iraq and Yemen, but also now in Syria. Thus, Tehran is currently facing a series of catastrophic defeats. However, we must take into consideration a devious reality that for its own sake Tehran needs and perpetuates the war in Syria.
In recent days, thousands of Iranian forces are reported to have arrived at a military airport in Syria’s coastal Latakia province, according to Syrian military sources. They would join senior Iranian military advisors and the Tehran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in bolstering the Assad’s regime troops. The clerical regime says it is willing to send fighters to key ally Syria if Damascus request, according to a senior Iranian regime official.
“If Syria makes a request (for Iranian forces), we will study the request and make a decision,’ said Alaedin Boroujerdi, the chairman of the Iranian regime parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee carried by the AFP agency.”
As much as the ayatollahs need to continue its crackdown inside the country to maintain its rule, they are also in need of warmongering, exporting terrorism and creating crises outside of its own borders. The main reason is this regime’s substantive weakness, lacking social base and political-ideological legitimacy, and the fundamental intransigence of its corrupt and retrograde rule in the face of growing demands of Iran’s society, being freedom and democracy. This has placed the regime before continuing instability and major vulnerability from a deeply dissatisfied society.
The Ayatollahs’ objective in exporting war and terrorism with an Islamic tag outside of its borders is to maintain their rule in Tehran. Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said back in January 2015 when another senior Quds Force commander was killed in Iraq, “If (our commanders) don’t shed blood in Iraq, we must shed blood in Tehran, Azerbaijan, Shiraz and Isfahan.”
Two elements have encouraged Iran in continuing its policies of terror and repression. Firstly, the weakness seen in Western governments in the face of Iran’s meddling in the region; secondly, the interest of various countries to have this regime join the international coalition against ISIS, involving it in Iraq and Syria.
Partnering the ayatollahs in Iraq is extremely dangerous as it provides grounds for the Quds Force to carry out attacks in Iraq, and engulf the entire Middle East in flames and bloodshed.
Various political circles are warning that not involving the ayatollahs in Iraq and expelling them from this country will lead to war. This theory is fundamentally a grave mistake or a deliberate treason, since the main elements behind wars are meddling and assassinations. Involving Tehran in Iraq would provide the regime just what it needs, at the wrong place at the wrong time.
ISIS would have never grown in Mesopotamia if an Iranian marionette government was not in power in Baghdad. Extremists would not have advanced if in 2013 the West had stopped the massacre of civilians in Syria and shown timely reaction.
We would be mistaken to think the massacre of over 300,000 Syrians will only plunge this country into destruction and devastations. We are currently witnessing how the flames of this war have spread across the Middle East, from Iraq, to Syria and Yemen, and now even Europe is facing a massive refugee crisis rooted in Syria.
This aggression is in fact an aggression by Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism seeing no future for itself in this era.
If the international community and the United States shown a strong political will against Bashar Assad when he crossed the red line of using chemical weapons, today Syria and the entire Middle East would not be in such an explosive state.
What are the principle and effective solutions to end these crises?
First: evicting Iran from Syria and supporting the Syrian nation in toppling Assad.
Second: removing Iran, the Quds Force and their so-called Shiite militia groups from Iraq.
Heshmat Alavi is a political activist and supporter for regime change in Iran. He writes on Iran and the Middle East.He tweets at @HeshmatAlavi
