Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNEWSIRAN NEWSIran strategically uses Basij model to spread its influence across the Middle-East

Iran strategically uses Basij model to spread its influence across the Middle-East

 



New Delhi Times, December 16, 2017 – Middle-East has been the springboard for various regional powers to spread their influence in the area. Amongst the many actors, two major powers scheming and fighting for their ascendancy in the volatile region are Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Saudi Kingdom took upon itself the role of torch bearer of Sunni supremacy as other Islamic countries looked up to the dynasty for guidance. Iran, on the rise since Iranian revolution of 1979, was not to be left behind. The country stood up to Saudis as a solid pillar of Shia presence in the Middle-East and spread its influence.


Saudi Arabia with the backing of Petro dollar and American help over last couple of decades acquired eminence. The presence of Islamic holy sites like Mecca added to its lustre. To add more muscles to its hegemony across the region, it mooted the Islamic Military Alliance (IMA) of thirty-nine plus Islamic countries selectively excluding Shia powers Iran, Iraq and Syria.


To match up to the Saudi might, Iran has found ways – clean and devious – to stamp its influence; its support to anti – Saudi and pro-Assad forces in Syria being a part of that robust strategic response. Moreover, it has been offering a solid fighting response to Saudi aggression in Yemen. Recently an Iranian official revealed the method by which Iran attempts to spread its influence across the Middle East. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, extensively praised the Basij model – a volunteer militia that operates under the Iranian Revolutionary Guard – which has kept Iranian flag high in the region.


“The Basij is a role model for the ‘resistance’ of the countries in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, and it is expressed in hundreds of thousands of people who have undergone training in the forces of Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi (popular forces that fought ISIS in Iraq), in Yemen, and other countries,” Jafari said in a speech to the Basij forces in Tehran. He held forth that the same model could also help other entities in the Middle East. He prided himself of the fact that Iran has established ‘resistance cells’ across Middle East.


Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, had ordered the establishment of Basij forces around the world. Jafari disclosed that “Today, armed cells of resistance have been established in Islamic countries, and small networks of resistance have been created in other countries, and we will see their influence in the future.” It is reported that large forces of volunteers have joined the ‘anti-terror’ struggle in Syria. Iranian-inspired Shiite terror networks have also been exposed in recent years in Bahrain.


There are reports that Shiite volunteer forces from Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Yemen have also been operating in Syria. Probably the fever has caught up with countries across the Middle East. In earlier part of 2017, news papers were agog with reports of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard recruiting thousands of Afghans, mainly by coercion, to fight in Syria alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.


Iran’s hostility with Israel, its support to Hezbollah complimented with efforts to establish a corridor through Syria to Lebanon for probable free flow of resources to the militant group has not gone down well with Israeli authorities. This has kept Tel Aviv on tenter-hooks and ready for counter move to what it views as sinister Iranian plot to downgrade Israel.


State sponsored non-state actors appear to be the norm rather than the exception in Islamic countries.

RELATED ARTICLES

Selected

Latest News and Articles

Most Viewed

[custom-twitter-feeds]