December 06-2013
. . . boastful
The Islamic Republic is the “heavyweight” of the Middle East, according to one of the country’s senior military officers.
Iran has turned into an influential factor in western Asia and plays a key role in all regional developments, he said.
“The big powers should know that Iran is the key to any solution in the western Asia region, and it determines the developments in West Asia,” Brigadier General Yahya Rahim-Safavi said at a cultural meeting in Tehran last Monday.
He described Iran as a pivotal country that connects the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, a description that would appear to better relate to Egypt.
Rahim-Safavi said Iran’s political and cultural influences have grown in recent years, making the Islamic Republic the region’s heavyweight.
He said the Americans are also aware of Iran’s key role in the region.
The theme of the Islamic Republic’s influence and power is a common one among regime officials. This time, but not always in the past, Rahim-Safavi restricted his words about Iran’s might just to the region.
Earlier, on September 22, Rahim-Safavi had proclaimed Iran as a powerful country not just in the region but in the entire world.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is recognized as an independent, powerful and influential country in the region and the world today, with a security strategy informed by justice-based peace,” he said then.
He said, “Any plan or process for sustainable peace and security” in the region could only be attained through the active participation of the Islamic Republic, which has proved to be an influential power in international equations, a status that he said it owes in no small part to its powerful armed forces.