Ahmadinejad has proclaimed that his country is the “most powerful and independent nation” on earth, at a military parade marking Army Day.
According to the World Military Strength Ranking, Iran is ranked 16. Not even close!
Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, to whose notoriety we have dedicated this site, visited Iraq last month as world leaders and scribes watched tentatively. The visit, a substantial step forward in burying the Iran-Iraq-war hatchet, was dissected thoroughly by analysts who concluded, almost unanimously, that Iran’s widening influence in Iraq is in anyone’s best interests. The Iranian Mullahs are consolidating their influence in Iraq so it can be leveraged at a later point in time.
In the future, Iran might hold the reigns of Iraqi foreign policy. But how? The uninitiated might wonder. Well, rocket scientists (pun intended), it is very simple: if the Iraqi Shiites are asked which country is their favorite other than, of course, Iraq? They will most definitely chant in spontaneous chorus, Iran - without even glancing at the atlas. And these Shiites happen to constitute the majority in Iraq besides running the new populist government there.
The Iraqi Shiites were oppressed under Saddam’s regime, which was made up of Sunni’s. Some of them rose up against the dictator’s atrocities and had to voluntarily go into exile to escape Saddam’s wrath. Their favored destination to serve their exiles was Iran, a Shiite-dominated country that also hated Saddam to the hilt like them. The U.S has been accusing the Mullah regime of fueling the sectarian violence in Iraq by arming and training the guerillas. But Iran had close ties with Iraqi rebel outfits long before the American invasion of Iraq.
There are reports of Iranian sleuths and Revolutionary Guards (elite corps) training the militias in Iraq, in fact, a few arrests have also been made in Iraq. Weapons pompously displaying their Iranian origin have also been recovered from the Iraqi guerillas.
Iran is virtually in charge of a pan-Middle Eastern terror chain. It has ties with nefarious terror groups like Hezbollah and it is more than a cheer leader to these outfits. It can unsettle the tranquility of not only Israel but the entire region including Arab nations that align themselves with the allies. It again takes no rocket science to figure out that the Middle East has endeared itself to the economic stability of the entire world as it supplies almost all the oil and, therefore, an unstable Middle East can make the world economy go belly-up. Iran can destabilize the entire region and bring the world economy down tumbling.
What if all these guerilla outfits, that have tens of thousands fanatic fighters each, decide to go on a pan-Arab guerilla rampage – slaughter, pillage and set oilfields ablaze? This is what they can resort to given a frenzied go-ahead from Iran, which is the world’s newest terror nerve center.
Ahmadinejad’s Mullah Regime is pulling out all the stops in taking Iraq in its clutches. Ahmadinejad extended a $1 billion dollar loan offer to the Iraqi government during his “historic” visit. Iran plans to setup banks in Iraq, they have already reached an agreement over linking their electricity grids, and gas pipelines between the two are in the works. This will entwine Iraq’s economy to that of Iran’s virtually reducing it to a vassal state. It is also feared that Iran might launch a theological invasion of Iraq that will lead to radicalization of the Iraqi government. More of fanaticism, more of mayhem.
Iran can only gain from a sectarian cleft in Iraq as that will keep the allies engaged there giving it enough time to fructify its heinous goals. I fear that Iranian involvement in Iraq might perpetuate the violence there. This is exactly what happened in Afghanistan where Pakistani influence wrecked the country. It has to be remembered that amid all this senseless rage the ones that loose their lives are perfectly normal human beings like you and me.
Many people around the world have grown sick and tired of violence and wars. There have been calls to settle disputes - including the Iran-Nuke issue - amicably, with some room for economic and military sanctions. The U.S government has not been shy of imposing economic sanctions against Iran. But these sanctions might not be producing the desired result, if an Iranian writer is to be trusted.
Hassan Daioleslam, an Iran analyst and writer, has raised his voice and pointed his fingers at the surreptitious Iranian lobby in the U.S which is busy making a mockery of the sanctions in place. You might feel that it is impossible for a company (American or non-U.S) to do business in both Iran and U.S with the sanctions in place. But you will be shocked to hear that reality is contrary to your belief. There are Mafia-style organizations that are working overtime to breach the sanctions. The principle player being the London-based Balli Group PLC, which is owned by two brothers, Vahid and Hassan Alaghband. It has profound business interests in Iran also.
The company is among the three companies to be penalized for the export of three U.S made planes to Iran. The Balli group has partnerships with several U.S companies including Xerox and Caterpillar. The Mullah’s are luring American-Iranian business executives and strengthening their business clout in the U.S. The Iranians have launched their offensive and literally infiltrated the U.S mainland. Do you hear the alarm bells?
The Iranian lobby in the US is financially fed by sources that are conspicuously tangled with Tehran’s interests. One jaw dropping example: Vahid Alaghband (the elder brother) is a major donor (among very few) and an “ambassador and supporter extraordinaire” of US based Parsa foundation.12 -13-14 This group has, in turn, been a principal financial supporter of NIAC in 2007. It is, indeed, a small world! [source]
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