Iran says using Palestinian issue to serve its interests
Iran has been using the Palestinian issue to achieve political gains and attract Arab youth to it for a long time now.
Tehran has been pursuing this policy
also to cause embarrassment to Arab governments.
It has conceded this fact, for the
first time, recently. An Iranian official said his country had used the
Palestinian issue all these years to serve its own project.
He said Iran has become more
powerful, having created many armies that defend its interests outside Iranian
borders.
Iran has been known for relying on
support by Shiite militias to defend its own interests.
However, the latest confession is
not apparently limited to support by these militias.
Embarrassment
These remarks were made by Maj. Gen.
Gholam Ali Rashid, the commander of what is known as Khatam-al Anbiya Central
Headquarter.
He was quoted by the Iranian Mehr
news agency as saying that the late commander of Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, revealed
three months before his assassination that that he had formed six armies
outside Iran with support from the command of the Revolutionary Guard Corpse and
the General Staff of the Iranian army.
He added that armies formed by
Soleimani included the Palestinian factions Hamas and Jihad.
Rashid conceded that these armies
have ideological inclinations, live outside Iran, and their mission is to
defend Tehran against any attack.
He noted that these armies also include
the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force, and the Houthi
militia in Yemen.
"These armies are a deterrent
force for Iran," Rashid said.
Iran denied repeatedly that it is
financing or supporting regional militias.
It especially denied the presence of
Iranian forces in Yemen and other Arab countries.
Meanwhile, Rashid's remarks had
apparently caused embarrassment to Hamas and Jihad.
The two factions were quick to say
that they only work to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories.
