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By Mehrazin Yaari
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - On a short visit to Iran last Thursday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari was bombarded with expressions of alarm about the growing influence of Sunni extremists in the region, with almost every Iranian statesman he met calling for cooperation to meet the challenge -- to the point that the issue overshadowed the main purpose of Zebari’s visit, which was to wrap up a deal on a chronic border dispute between the two neighbors.
The rising threat of al-Qaeda and other extremist Sunni factions has been the hot topic discussed with a host of other regional officials who visited Iran over the past week, and it is understandable why Tehran is so worried. Once a flag-bearer of militant Islam, the predominantly-Shiite state seems to have fallen to the same militant ideology it once preached, facing zealots from the other side of the sectarian divide, armed with centuries-old vengeance.
The menace has become more imminent than those from Israel and the United States, traditional enemies since the 1979 Islamic revolution; serious enough for Tehran to scramble for a regional solution to the problem in parallel with its pursuit of a settlement with Western powers over its controversial nuclear program.
It is a threat boiling within Iran’s own borders, among its disgruntled Sunni minority and closing in from outside -- neighboring Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan and further from Yemen, Lebanon and Syria. Not a day goes without an incident: Cross-border raids, bombing, kidnappings and assassinations -- the latest a spate of suicide attacks on Iranian diplomatic missions in Beirut, the murder of diplomats in Yemen and the abduction of border guards along the Pakistan border, an issue that brought Iran to the brink of military intervention in Pakistan last week.
But the costliest tolls are from Syria, where the Islamic Republic has fought hard to keep President Bashar Assad in power against a broad coalition of opponents, ranging from pro-democracy factions to liberals and finally to al-Qaeda-inspired Sunni extremists. Casualty rates are apparently high, but kept discreet for political reasons, as is the case in any secret war Tehran purportedly fights to protect beleaguered Shiite communities from oppressive rulers. Be it in Iraq during the US-led occupation, Lebanon under intermittent Israeli assaults or Yemen, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to a lesser degree. But low-key funerals organized daily across the nation speak for themselves. On the same day Zebari was visiting, funerals were held in Western Iran for two Iranian “engineers” shot dead in the restive Iraqi town of Diyala.
“Terrorist outcasts commit desperate acts out of vengeance for the reasonable stance taken by Iraqi people toward the Syrian crisis,” said Admiral Ali Shamkhani, a member of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Tehran certainly bears its own responsibility for its new problem, by seeking to expand its influence way beyond its frontiers. But it is also unlikely that the sectarian challenge will dim its appetite for expanding its influence out of moral or strategic considerations. What is new is the Islamic republic’s resolve to publicize the “demon” and present it as a common problem, for the region and the entire world. Going it loud but civilized, is the new tactic, following the Western model of diplomacy.
“Defending the Syrian government toward rooting out violent terrorism is a principled move to immunize the region against harms from this inhumane trend,” Shamkhani said in his meeting with the Iraqi foreign minister. “Undoubtedly, the Iraqi people and government’s crusade against terrorism will set an example for the entire region and Muslim world.”
But under the surface, Tehran seems to have gone way further than polite diplomacy. Just before Zebari’s visit, news leaked that Iran had sold about $200 million worth of arms to Iraq to fight the al-Qaeda militants. Zebari flatly denied the report.
“We are committed to international laws and regulations,” he told reporters in Tehran, referring to UN sanctions barring arms trade with the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. But the Iraqi minister was quick to add, almost with a wink: “I hope our Iranian brothers understand our particular circumstances.”
For Iran, Sunni Extremism Supersedes US, Israeli Threats
Not sure whether the source is credible or not but judging by the recent events I think this is a legitimate claim.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - On a short visit to Iran last Thursday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari was bombarded with expressions of alarm about the growing influence of Sunni extremists in the region, with almost every Iranian statesman he met calling for cooperation to meet the challenge -- to the point that the issue overshadowed the main purpose of Zebari’s visit, which was to wrap up a deal on a chronic border dispute between the two neighbors.
The rising threat of al-Qaeda and other extremist Sunni factions has been the hot topic discussed with a host of other regional officials who visited Iran over the past week, and it is understandable why Tehran is so worried. Once a flag-bearer of militant Islam, the predominantly-Shiite state seems to have fallen to the same militant ideology it once preached, facing zealots from the other side of the sectarian divide, armed with centuries-old vengeance.
The menace has become more imminent than those from Israel and the United States, traditional enemies since the 1979 Islamic revolution; serious enough for Tehran to scramble for a regional solution to the problem in parallel with its pursuit of a settlement with Western powers over its controversial nuclear program.
It is a threat boiling within Iran’s own borders, among its disgruntled Sunni minority and closing in from outside -- neighboring Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan and further from Yemen, Lebanon and Syria. Not a day goes without an incident: Cross-border raids, bombing, kidnappings and assassinations -- the latest a spate of suicide attacks on Iranian diplomatic missions in Beirut, the murder of diplomats in Yemen and the abduction of border guards along the Pakistan border, an issue that brought Iran to the brink of military intervention in Pakistan last week.
But the costliest tolls are from Syria, where the Islamic Republic has fought hard to keep President Bashar Assad in power against a broad coalition of opponents, ranging from pro-democracy factions to liberals and finally to al-Qaeda-inspired Sunni extremists. Casualty rates are apparently high, but kept discreet for political reasons, as is the case in any secret war Tehran purportedly fights to protect beleaguered Shiite communities from oppressive rulers. Be it in Iraq during the US-led occupation, Lebanon under intermittent Israeli assaults or Yemen, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to a lesser degree. But low-key funerals organized daily across the nation speak for themselves. On the same day Zebari was visiting, funerals were held in Western Iran for two Iranian “engineers” shot dead in the restive Iraqi town of Diyala.
“Terrorist outcasts commit desperate acts out of vengeance for the reasonable stance taken by Iraqi people toward the Syrian crisis,” said Admiral Ali Shamkhani, a member of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Tehran certainly bears its own responsibility for its new problem, by seeking to expand its influence way beyond its frontiers. But it is also unlikely that the sectarian challenge will dim its appetite for expanding its influence out of moral or strategic considerations. What is new is the Islamic republic’s resolve to publicize the “demon” and present it as a common problem, for the region and the entire world. Going it loud but civilized, is the new tactic, following the Western model of diplomacy.
“Defending the Syrian government toward rooting out violent terrorism is a principled move to immunize the region against harms from this inhumane trend,” Shamkhani said in his meeting with the Iraqi foreign minister. “Undoubtedly, the Iraqi people and government’s crusade against terrorism will set an example for the entire region and Muslim world.”
But under the surface, Tehran seems to have gone way further than polite diplomacy. Just before Zebari’s visit, news leaked that Iran had sold about $200 million worth of arms to Iraq to fight the al-Qaeda militants. Zebari flatly denied the report.
“We are committed to international laws and regulations,” he told reporters in Tehran, referring to UN sanctions barring arms trade with the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. But the Iraqi minister was quick to add, almost with a wink: “I hope our Iranian brothers understand our particular circumstances.”
For Iran, Sunni Extremism Supersedes US, Israeli Threats
Not sure whether the source is credible or not but judging by the recent events I think this is a legitimate claim.
