Iran says using Palestinian issue to serve its interests

Mohamed Shaath

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.