Iran's Aggression Could Join Arabs and Israelis

A tectonic shift has occurred in the Middle East, highlighting both a threat and a historic opportunity. The threat, newly revealed in its extent and cunning, is Iranian subversion. The opportunity is the chance to make progress on some of the region's fundamental problems now that, for the first time in a century, Arabs and Jews alike fully appreciate the menace in Iran's hegemonic ambitions to dominate the Muslim world. They share with the West
the conviction that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran is no longer just an existential threat to Israel. It threatens the regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Persian Gulf emirates and has infiltrated other Islamic states. Shiite Tehran has transcended sectarian and ideological differences to create an aggressive coalition. It includes various Sunni movements, such as Hamas and other far-left groups, all operational proxies for Iran's efforts to destabilize the Middle East and promote Iranian interests and terrorist bases.

The Iranian operation is multifaceted. Preachers in thousands of mosques have long disseminated the Khomeinist revolutionary propaganda, but the reach is now deeper. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard controls thousands of websites and blogs. Front companies, including banks, employ thousands of locals in each targeted country. Cleverly, the Iranians finance charities, social and medical services, courses in information technology, scholarships, and cultural centers offering language classes and Islamic theology, all with the same underlying purpose. They support publishing houses and more than a hundred newspapers and
magazines and control satellite television and radio networks in various languages.

Then there are the political satellites: Hezbollah in Lebanon, against which Israel fought a war in 2006, and Hamas, the instigator of the recent Gaza war. They are funded, trained, and armed by Iran to conduct terrorist attacks against Israel and to sabotage any dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Even now, Iran has an outpost in Gaza, creating the potential for Iranian incitements on both Israel's southern border and Egypt's northern border, an area where there is a security vacuum.

The Egyptians have now furiously blown the whistle on the subversion against their government. They have exposed a Shiite terrorist group headed by a Hezbollah activist. Dozens of people were arrested, including some from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Tehran's principal vehicle for exporting revolution. The cell planned attacks on Suez Canal installations and Egyptian tourist sites in the hope of destabilizing the regime, which Iran
considers vulnerable because of the age of President Hosni Mubarak and the possibility of a shaky political environment when he passes away.

Astonishingly, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, publicly attacked the Egyptians and issued an exhortation to the Egyptian Army to overthrow the Mubarak regime. The Egyptian retort, published in the state-controlled newspaper al-Gomhouria, was blistering: "We do not allow, Oh Monkey Sheikh, to mock our judiciary, for you area bandit and veteran criminal who killed your countrymen, but we will not allow you to threaten the security and safety of Egypt . . . and if you threaten its sovereignty, you will burn!" President Mubarak spoke out forcefully, and the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, linked together the Iranian threat to Egypt, Israel, and the West in the same breath.

In addition to creating Hezbollah cells--there are probably more--Iran helps Hamas smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip via Sudan and the Sinai. This has awakened the Egyptians to the risk to their security from the iron triangle of Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Other Arab countries are similarly aroused. Tehran hopes to see its allies sweep to power in Bahrain. The small but prosperous nation is "part of Iran," in the words of Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, a senior aide to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In Morocco, security uncovered a network of pro-Iranian militants plotting violent operations; Morocco severed diplomatic relations. In Jordan, the State Security Court has sent three people to prison on charges of spying for Hezbollah after they "monitored positions, possessed weapons, and gathered things and information that must be kept secret."

Iranian strategists consider Jordan a colonial creation that will disappear when they establish a single state covering the whole of Palestine; two thirds of Jordan's population is Palestinian. The Jordanians fear that one of the consequences of the U.S. military pullout from Iraq will be Iranian penetration into Iraq that will project directly into Jordan. Iranian-controlled groups have been in Kuwait, too.

But Iran sees the largest target of opportunity as Lebanon. It aims to destroy Lebanon's historic balance as an Arab country with an affinity for the West. Tehran sees an opportunity to tip that balance between the pro-Western orientation advocated by Christians and the Druze and the pro-Nasserist, anti-Western orientation favored by some of the Muslims, the most rapidly growing part of the population. Iran is infusing massive amounts to back a coalition led by Hezbollah and including former Gen. Michel Aoun, a Christian, in June's general election. Tehran's goal is to transform Lebanon and shift it to the pro-Iran column as a Shiite-dominated country under Islamic law. Should Hezbollah and its supporters win a significant majority, it would constitute a milestone in that quest. Hezbollah, in short, seeks a new election law that would establish an Islamic state run by Hezbollah.

In the new Hezbollah platform, there is no reference to its militia and its weapons, nor is there any expression of willingness to dismantle its military capability and integrate it into the Lebanese armed forces. Rather, the group wishes to retain its power in order to change Lebanon's political system and at the same time increase the military threat on Israel's northern border.

A Shiite axis of evil controlled by Iran is not a remote prospect. A year ago, when the Lebanese government tried to dismantle Hezbollah's independent communications infrastructure, Hezbollah effected a brutal takeover of Beirut.

Clearly, what Hezbollah is doing is not in the interest of Lebanon or the region. The Arab states are understandably opposed to Hezbollah's takeover of Lebanon and, equally, to Hamas's designs to take over the Palestinian Authority in next year's election on the West Bank and Gaza. Should Iran succeed in both elections, Israel would have Hamas on the south, Hezbollah on the north, and Hamas on the West.

These are the forces that have provided the seeds for a delicate new alliance based on shared national interests among the United States, the Sunni Arab countries, and Israel--an alliance that can now change the entire political path to secure the stability of the region.

The Arab countries, headed by Egypt, realize this battle with Iran requires cooperation-- including, perhaps, with Israel. This hasn't happened since Israel yielded Sinai after the Yom Kippur War. Israel possesses not only a deterrent military component against a nuclear Iran, should that come to pass in the face of Western disunity, but also an intelligence component for effective defense. So, for the first time, Israel, Egypt, and other Arab countries are on the same side of the fence against a common enemy that poses a strategic threat.

This shifts priorities from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the fate of the entire region as a hostage to Iran.

As it has long been said in the Middle East, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Comments

[LincolnParkChicago]

I am sure that Mortimer has just accidentally typed Iran or Iranian when he actually intended to type Israel or Israeli.
This article only makes sense when you make this substitution.
Which of these makes sense based on objective reality?
"The threat, newly revealed in its extent and cunning, is Iranian subversion­." Not really.
or
"The threat, newly revealed in its extent and cunning, is Israeli subversion. " This is a given.

Mortimer just made a typo.

[skialethia]

1st intention:

"This shifts priorities from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the fate of the entire region as a hostage to Iran."

This sentence says it all! He actually admits that the priority must shift from Israel-Palestine to "the fate of the entire region as a hostage to Iran". What more proof do we need that the intention is to stall the peace process, while everyone gets busy focusing on Iran, spoken in his own words???

This is the same strategy a grifter would use. He'd distract your attention while someone else picks your pocket! In this case, the intent is to distract the world’s attention while Israel steals more land from Palestinians!

2nd intention:

"As it has long been said in the Middle East, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

What is he really saying here? Answer: DIVIDE AND CONQUER!

This is the man who with his Main Stream Media mogul friends helped disseminate the fear and lies that led to the war in Iraq...tod­ay he's doing the same with Iran!

How could any Muslim country honestly believe that Israel wants their friendship??? The only things that Israel lusts after is territory and power.

[skialethia]

Part 2.

To recap: The agenda of Israel spoken by its favorite mouthpiece here is: To distract the world from demanding Israel deliver on the two-state solution and to divide the Middle East so it can continue picking off one country after another Israel deems a threat to its power and influence in the region and the criteria for who that enemy is will mutate as Israel’s supremacy grows.

Just as the U.S. has become the world’s superpower; Israel’s ambition is to control the Middle East.

[bismillah001]

Good analysis :) The effort you put into your comments on this page is making me look like a slob. hahaha

[bismillah001]

Whenever you hear the words "iron triangle" or "axis of evil", you know you are knee deep in bullshit.

[shotei]

Great post. Once Iranian influence and support of terrorist groups are over, there would be no violence in the Middle East. Israel would be pressured to freeze settlement construction and eventually withdraw from the West Bank and Israel would have security and peace. If there was no Hezbollah or Hamas, we would not be seeing any aggression in the Middle East in the past decade.
Iran is too coward and perhaps too smart to fight Israel head to head, so they dump money and arms on these groups to fight its proxy wars. Iran is getting greedy though and the Ayatollah's regime is now trying to manipulate internal politics inside many Arab countries.

[skialethia]

Do you still believe in the tooth fairy too???

Israel has had 60 years to make peace!!! Israel has been stealing more and more land for 40 years and during some of that time Iran was busy fending off an attack from Iraq! Israel in the meantime was busy building their illegal nuclear weapons program!

Israel goaded Bush into Iraq because they didn't trust Saddam and were paranoid about his quest for nuclear weapons and he had provided Arafat with financial assistance to rebuild the PLO in the 1980's.

So you see, this is just history repeating itself....­and you're part of the drumbeat propaganda.

[Justtellthetruth]

Bad Magician;

Ehhh.... Don't look at my settlements expanding hand. No. Look at my scary IIIRRRAAAANNNNNN Hand!!!!!

(twenty terrorism filled, US calamity filled, settlement expanding years later)

Voila!!

Millions more violent, racist, settlers in the occupied territories, NO possibility of a 2 state solution, and endless wars on terror for the US.

[SiberianRat]

Yep--nice "ally" we have, eh?

[QuidQuintessa]

What you mean, Mort, is Israel and the despised Arab client dictators like the Abdullahs and Mubarak, against the Arab populaces they lord over and Iran. Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah are the most popular public figures in the ARAB world. And it's not because of some sort of rampant and shared religious extremism across the region, but because these two have the courage to stand up to an illegal occupation.

It's sad, Mort, that you have allowed your noble faith and ethnicity to become intertwined with what almost the entire world regards as one of the most sickening and egregious crimes of our era.

[LadyAurora]

I hate to burst your bubble QuidQuintessa, but Ahmadinejad is a Persian not an Arab. This is something most in the west do not understand; Persians and Arabs are two different ethnic groups, although with many intermarriages and regional identification, the lines have become blured.

[piul05]

You should read that QuidQuintessa comment again; what it says is that Ahmadinejad is a popular figure in the Arab world - nowhere does it claim that he's an Arab.

[Mollabaji]

Sorry to burst your bubble LadyAurora. Arabism or Persianism is irrelevant to the political facts as stated by QuidQuintessa. Try another way of questioning his truthful an logical comment.
This guy Mort is a Zionist propagandis and member of AIPAC. Are you also?

[Pippilin]

Iran's aggression? I've barely been aware of it. But I sure have been aware of the messy campaign the U.S. is already carrying out in Afghanistan and of Israel's success at overkill in Lebanon and Gaza.

[louisamast]

What he really means, Iran is aggressive because unlike other rulers in the ME, she doesn't bend over to Israel and dares to criticize Israeli aggression against her neighbors.

[One State Solution]

BINGO!

[skialethia]

Israelis dream of a day when they will have Arab nations at war with Iran and other Arab nations, and Muslims killing Muslims.

Muslims and Arabs need to remain vigilant and aware...Is­rael is not your friend...I­srael would rather you waste your resources fighting each other and spending your tears and grief on the misery the prospect of such an objective will bring. Israel wants weak Arab neighbors, so that it can be the only power in the neighborhood. Israel lusts for power like it lusts for land.

Muslims need to move away from that which separates them and unite under common aspirations and disregard the fear-mongering and doomsday blather coming out of Israel. Muslims need to help each other prosper and look to bettering the lot of countries and people who are not blessed with oil revenues, and demand a two-state solution and sovereignty for the Palestinians.

Muslim countries need to turn a deaf ear to Israel, and look to the benefits of diplomacy and trade with Iran and a better future for all Muslims.

Don't play Israel's game; don't fall into the trap that Israel is setting for ALL Muslims.

[louisamast]

That would be possible if the Arabs in the ME had true rulers who would put their people interest in mind rather than selling their country cheap and focusing on saving their own undemocratic regimes.

[skialethia]

Hopefully the will and voice of the people will prevail over the stupidity of despots like Mubarak who bow before Israel stay in power.

[nefertiti]

brilliant Louisa .
we have bright people in the Arab world who can Never reach High positions in government , they are often jailed , killed , kept in house confinmet , pushed to emigrate and leave . they become too dangerous , we have idiots who have no principles at the top , who only take orders like robots , and Do not think of our needs at ALL . they are good at Boring speeches (which i no longer listen to ) but we know how evil they are . they conspire against us , against our wishes to progress and to better future .

[apduncan1]

When are we going to see elections in Saudi Arabia?

[louisamast]

When we are sure the outcome can be controlled!

[One State Solution]

Oh yeah! Can't have a repeat of the Palestinian elections which were most observed and fair and entirely democratic.

[yappnmutt]

when are we going to see a christian or muslim leader in israel?

[One State Solution]

NEVER! It's why they never want a two state solution..­.need to keep a Jewish Majority. Why that goes over with Americans is hard to fathom, unless it just goes over our heads.

[louisamast]

When Israel becomes a real democratic country. For now, she is neither a country nor democratic. Democratic Israel will have a defined border, a constitution and no second class citizens.

[nefertiti]

right !!!!! LOL .

[louisamast]

Amasingly you have saved us from Iraq's imaginary WMDs by promoting the invasion of that country. You are working very hard to save us from Iran's hypothetical nuclear weapons. Next you would probably going to warn us that most of our representatives and decision makers are regularly blackmailed by certain powerful groups that have links to a foreign country!

[Mollabaji]

Correct louisamast but please have the courage to name the "foreign country" which regularly blackmails our representatives and decision makers by powerful groups. It is ISRAEL, the foreign country and AIPAC the certain powerful group. Now wait until I am accused of being anti-semitic!

[shotei]

You know it was coming right? But you are not anti-semitic at all. You just happen to believe that American Jews control American foreign policy and make the mightiest country in the world pursue a policy against its interest because of Jewish interests. And of course, Jewish interest are not the national interest.
I just think you'd find a lot of encouragement by reading German literature from the 30s. There were a lot of people who thought just like you

[grn1]

"The Iranian operation is multifaceted. Preachers in thousands of mosques have long disseminated the Khomeinist revolutionary propaganda, but the reach is now deeper. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard controls thousands of websites and blogs. Front companies, including banks, employ thousands of locals in each targeted country. Cleverly, the Iranians finance charities, social and medical services, courses in information technology, scholarships, and cultural centers offering language classes and Islamic theology, all with the same underlying purpose. They support publishing houses and more than a hundred newspapers and
magazines and control satellite television and radio networks in various languages.­" WOW THIS IS STANGELY FAMILIAR RIGHT AUTHOR.

[apduncan1]

You should hear christian fundamentalists preachers hereabouts!

[Ohm51]

Yup. Its hard for me to believe that Mort can wage the accusation of ...

" Front companies, including banks, employ thousands of locals in each targeted country. Cleverly, the Iranians finance charities, social and medical services, courses in information technology, scholarships, and cultural centers offering language classes and Islamic theology, all with the same underlying purpose. "

... with a straight face ... is the ultimate of ironies, and caps it with ...

"They support publishing houses and more than a hundred newspapers and
magazines and control satellite television and radio networks in various languages.­"

Has gotta be almost the Epitome of Chutzpah.

Oh beware those crazy clever multifaceted Iranians!

[Baltotoast]

Nothing here but a head fake to distract everyone with Iran while Israel continues to dither over a palestinian settlement. Do not take the bait.

[apduncan1]

Heck, these Zionist think we all are dumb goyim.

[One State Solution]

We goyim are getting wiser every day!

[nefertiti]

Iran is Independent and refuses to become a US Puppet , and the revolution in iran gave the people a sense of freedom from dependence , that threaten the Cowards we call Arab leaders (whom we never chose ) the Arab citizens support iran and Ahmadinejad is the Most popular in the Arab world unlike the Arab puppets . Arab people often talk about a revolution to kick these dictators OUT which scares the dictators , so attacking Iran is the Best thing for Israel and for the Arab cowards . (iam An arab and not iranian and i dont think iran is a danger , it has every right to have a nuclear technology . israel has Nuclear Bombs and no one seems to care )

[One State Solution]

Regimes in Arab countries that are trying to maintain control of the Arab street are afraid of Iran but the people of the Arab countries.­. no they are not afraid. They actually are very impressed by Iran not kissing western and Z butt and wish their leaders would do the same.

[nefertiti]

Brilliant . You seem well informed . im from the Arab street and i can tell you people often hold the pictures of Hugo Chavez , Hassan Nasrall , MOrales and Ahmadinejad , when they hold mubarak s pictures , they are usually with a star of david on his forehead or dog tail attached to his body .

[goldcoastsailor]

This shifts priorities away from the Palestinian-Israel conflict? Israel frightens me, not Iran.

[nefertiti]

Bravo