The vicious and rapidly growing domination of Iran

The vicious and rapidly growing domination of Iran

The story is indeed one of the best tools to understand the current and future threats of the Iranian regime. A nuanced examination of the rapid and remarkable growth of Tehran's hegemony should send an alarming message to the international community – and urge it to take immediate action.
When Khomeini took power and installed the Velayat-e-Faqih system (the governance of the jurist, which gives the supreme leader custody over the entire nation), the regime had virtually no influence in the others country, in the region or beyond. Iran has also endured eight years of bloody and devastating war with its neighbor, Iraq.
Nevertheless, Tehran has managed to significantly expand its spheres of influence, open new fronts and export its extremist ideology and revolutionary ideals. During the Iran-Iraq war, although many of Iran's resources were exhausted, the theocratic, determined and challenging regime began implementing its international agenda. Three years after 1979, the ruling mullahs sent over 1,000 members of its Quds Force – a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) operating in foreign territories – in Lebanon. In a short time, these members of the IRGC gave birth to the first group of Shiite militias in the world, the most powerful in the world: Hezbollah
. The Iranian regime has quickly resorted to terrorist tactics. Through a series of concerted operations – bombing of US embbadies, hostages, kidnappings, mbadacres of peacekeeping troops in Europe and the United States, suicide attacks and deadly attacks against Israel – Iran and Hezbollah marked their first geopolitical, strategic and ideological victory. the victory when they forced Israel and the United States to withdraw from Lebanon.
In a few years, Beirut became the first Arab capital to fall into the hands of Iran, and the Iranian rulers boasted of it. This new front in the Levant was not enough for Tehran, who turned to Bahrain and other Gulf countries. The IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence have invested their resources in building a network of alternative militias, supporting terrorist groups and supporting fundamentalist Shiite groups in the region, such as the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain [19659003]. put an end to the growing hegemony of the Iranian regime and its dangerous and vicious expansion.

Majid Rafizadeh

In an attempt to establish governance systems similar to those of Iran in neighboring countries, the Iranian regime began to stir up protests in the Gulf countries by pursuing a sectarian program and the supreme leader has publicly called for the overthrow of Gulf governments, including that of Saudi Arabia. Tehran conspired to badbadinate important personalities, including the ambbadador from Riyadh to Washington
In Iraq, Iran did not abandon its goal of dominating Baghdad even after eight years of war , which led to a military stalemate. Tehran exercised great patience until it found its political opportunity in 2003, during the Iraqi conflict involving the United States.
As for Syria, the Iranian regime has long sought to dominate Damascus as it did in Beirut. Although Damascus and Tehran are loyal allies, former President Hafez Assad would likely draw a red line for Iran, warning Tehran against creating militias in Syria, establishing military bases in the country where the attempt to govern Damascus. Iran was aware that if it crossed that red line, Assad was able to harm the interests of Iran in Lebanon. Using their masterful skill of patience, the mullahs waited until they found an opportunity in 2011.
Like the Lebanese civil war, the Syrian conflict provided Tehran with the opportunity to infiltrate and dominate the political, military and security establishment. Syrian regime. Syria has turned into a big military retrenchment for Iran. The IRGC has established more than 10 military bases, some of them permanent, in Syrian cities.
In 2012, Iran also found a great opportunity to expand its influence in the Arabian Peninsula by supporting the Houthis in Yemen. militarily, financially and politically. A UN group recently concluded that the Iranian regime was behind the transfer of illegal weapons to the Houthis.
From the point of view of the Iranian regime, its growing dominance and influence have been a success. The Iranian leaders boasted of controlling four Arab capitals: Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sanaa.
It should be noted that a 40-year period is infinitesimal in the context of world political history. However, the Iranian regime has managed in this short time not only to consolidate its power but also to significantly expand its influence and dominance, from Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Yemen, and even to some European and Latin American countries. The lesson to be learned from the four-decade history of the ruling mullahs is clear: if the Iranian regime has achieved such a remarkable and rapid expansion of influence in such a short time, imagine how far it can expand his hegemony. supremacy and domination in case it is not properly combated and stopped.
It is incumbent upon the international community to put an end to the growing hegemony of the Iranian regime and its dangerous and vicious expansion.

• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist trained at Harvard. He is a prominent foreign policy specialist from Iran and the United States, a businessman and president of the American International Council.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Warning: The opinions expressed by the authors in this section are the Viewpoint of the News