Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei believes that were it not for his
country's soldiers who were killed in the war in Syria, they would have been
forced to fight American and Zionist agents in Tehran, Khorasan and Isfahan.
We can consider what Khamenei said to his people and the families of the dead
as a mere justification for the human losses that Iran has suffered in its war
in Syria, a country that it does not share any borders with. What he says may
have other meanings that are deep and honest such as the presence of threats
against the regime in Iran, and that moving the war outside of Iran is
necessary for the regime's safety.
Iran's leaders are repeating talk of and statements about justifications for
its foreign wars to silence critical voices that object to sacrificing their
country's forces in an unnecessary war that only satisfies religious and
military leaders in Tehran who want to expand and dominate. However, the
longer the war lasts, the higher the number of losses, and thus there is more
condemnation and questions are repeated. The logic in confronting America and
Zionism that was peddled for more than thirty years has lost its credibility.
Confronting America and Zionism was a slogan and its latest aim was to
maintain power.
During the decades after the revolution, Iran's leadership has been justifying
its support for terrorism, fuelling regional and global violence, threatening
its neighbours, building its nuclear programme and preparing for wars; the
state's only project and its ideology. All of this is being done under the
pretext of self-defence and the claim that they are at threat of an invasion
from the global western Zionist regime. After Iran negotiated and signed the
nuclear deal and reconciled with the west, its argument that it is fearful of
its enemy is no longer valid. However, instead of opening up and turning
towards peace, Iran has increased its foreign military adventures.
The regime has adopted the concept of militarising society since Tehran's war
with Iraq during Saddam Hussein's presidency in the eighties. The late Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Khomeini did not end the war which lasted eight years until
around five years had passed during which he was obstinate and rejected calls
made by international mediators to stop the war. The war served the regime's
need to eradicate the remnants of the Shah's leaders, and later, internal
rival powers.
Why does the regime need more wars today to consolidate its internal pillars
if it has already eradicated most of its opponents? Iran is a big country, and
in it there are multiple forces that are not necessarily hostile, but they
oppose the regime intellectually and socially. In the ruling religious and
security circle itself, there are competitive forces that are besieged and
sometimes eliminated.
Fighting foreign wars is an old way of imposing internal control and is a
method used by regimes that cannot secure their internal conditions. Although
Iran is a poor country internally, its military and security institutions such
as the Revolutionary Guards, the Basij, the intelligence services and the army
are rich and large. They are characterised by advanced industries and own huge
companies including oil companies, refineries, import and export companies and
hotels.
Iran's problem, and its leaders are aware of this problem now, is that it is
not achieving decisive victories in the foreign wars that it is waging. In
Iraq, whenever a fire is extinguished, another breaks out. In Syria, even if
Iran succeeds in achieving consecutive victories for the Assad regime, it is
still not strong and would collapse if the Iranians withdrew their forces and
militias from the country. As a result of this expansion of wars, Iran has a
military presence in Yemen, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Tehran's leadership faces
a dilemma because it refuses to accept moderate political solutions to crises
in conflict zones. This is keeping it suspended in those zones and it will
continue to fight for years.
The question is: until when will the Iranians endure their losses and the
adventures of their regime? The matter depends on the extent of the security
services' effectiveness and their ability to tighten control over the
situation in the streets as official speeches and media propaganda will not
last. As part of its propaganda, Iran initially used sectarian and religious
justifications including defending shrines. However, most of the fighting is
not in sacred areas. Now, there is talk that the fighting in Aleppo, the
distant city, is defending Iran's internal security.
Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya television. He is also the
former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in the daily newspapers of
Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is a US post-graduate degree in mass
communications. He has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs. He is
currently based in Dubai.
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