The Poisonous Fruit of Appeasing Iran's Mullahs
by Khaled Abu Toameh • June 9, 2021 at 5:00 am
The Arabs clearly see what the Biden administration, Britain, Germany and France are refusing to see -- that Iran has ambitions not only to acquire a nuclear bomb, but also aggressively to export its "Islamic revolution" and terrorism on a global scale.
It is also important to note that one of the missions of Quds Force is to "liberate Jerusalem and Palestine," a euphemism for the elimination of Israel.
"The Quds Force is in Yemen to launch attacks on Mecca and Medina and their surroundings [in Saudi Arabia]. The goal of the mullahs in Tehran is to attack Muslims and inflict the greatest possible harm on them." — Walid Al-Ghamidi, Saudi writer, YouTube, June 5, 2021.
"The Houthi's missiles and drones nearly hit the holy sites in Mecca and Medina. How can Iran invest in the bombing of Saudi Arabia while claiming... that it seeks to liberate Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque? Iran's claim to support Islamic holy sites is not related to any religious beliefs. It is related to regional ambitions, expansionist dreams, and striving to export the Iranian revolution to various countries in the region." — Mohammed Hassan Mufti, Saudi author, Okaz, June 3, 2021.
"There is no dispute among experts and political analysts that Iran is a direct cause of the complete destruction of at least four Arab countries": Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. — Mohammed Hassan Mufti, Okaz, June 3, 2021.
"America's entry into the Iranian nuclear agreement will.... enable the mullahs to obtain nuclear weapons and more than a billion dollars. Some of the money will go to Iran's agents in the region." — Bader bin Saud, Saudi columnist, Okaz, May 24, 2021.
"Does Iran want to liberate Jerusalem and give it to the Palestinians, or does it want to add it to the group of Arab capitals it occupies, such as Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut and Sana'a?" — Faisal Al-Qassem, prominent Syrian writer and journalist, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, May 14, 2021.
Qassem also pointed out that some commentators have come to prefer keeping Jerusalem under Israeli control over its liberation by Iran: "Look at the capitals occupied by Iran: Baghdad has become, according to the United Nations, the dirtiest capital in the world, while Beirut has become the largest dumpster in the Middle East. As for Damascus, it turned into a ruin, while Sana'a returned to the Middle Ages." — Faisal Al-Qassem, quoting an Arab in Al-Quds Al-Arabi, May 14, 2021.
"Jerusalem is not in the mind of the regime. Rather, what concerns Iran is killing Arabs and occupying their countries." — Dr. Bahera Al-Sheikhli, Iraqi author, Al-Arab, May 21, 2021.
"The truth is that Iran established the Quds Force to occupy Arab countries, recruit Arab traitors into terrorist organizations to overthrow Arab governments, and threaten Arab national security." — Abdel Munim Ibrahim, Emirati political analyst, Akhbar Al-Khaleej, May 12, 2021.
The Arabs, however, are sending a very different message to the Biden administration and other Western powers: Appeasing Iran by reviving the nuclear deal, lifting sanctions or giving it money will only assist the Iranian regime in perpetrating more crimes and increasing instability and terrorism in the region.
Iran is continuing to exploit the Palestinian issue to promote its expansionist schemes in the Middle East and meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries, including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain.
Iran is doing so while its representatives continue to conduct indirect negotiations with the US administration in Vienna on reviving the 2015 "Iran nuclear deal," which Iran never signed.
Diplomats from Britain, France and Germany who are negotiating with the Iranians seem oblivious to the growing concern in the Arab world over Tehran's support for terrorism and its ongoing intervention in the internal affairs of several Arab countries.
The accusation that Iran is using the Palestinian issue to advance its schemes in the region was made by many Arabs in the aftermath of the recent war between Israel and Hamas, which ended with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire on May 21.
