June 20-2014
The Islamic Republic hasn’t lost any time blaming the United States for unleashing the Sunni extremist group attacks in northern Iraq this month.
Some officials have also blamed Israel and “certain regional states” for the rapid advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) across northern Iraq.
No one, however, has even hinted that Iran’s backing of violent Shia militias in Iraq and its intervention in Syria might have influenced the buildup of violent Sunni militias.
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani blasted Washington and other powers for using terrorism as a tool to advance their goals. “It is obvious that the Americans and certain countries in the region have launched these moves in Iraq,” he said.
Deputy Pasdar Commander Gen. Hossain Salami said in a speech in Mazandaran province Saturday, “The result of the measures taken by Western countries and their allies is the continuation of the unrest in places such as Iraq. They aim to sow the seeds of American sedition in other countries.”
In the Majlis, Deputy Hossain Naqavi-Hossaini of the National Security Committee said ISIS “is operating on behalf of the United States and Israel to sow discord among Muslims. ISIS and other terrorist groups in Iraq are implementing Wash-ington’s anti-Islam policies and spreading Islamophobia.” He said the crisis in Iraq has nothing to do with differences among Sunnis and Shias as both sects have joined hands to confront ISIS.
But Deputy Ali Motahari said the opposite, asserting that ISIS would be destroyed if Muslims were united. He said ISIS was a creation of Israel.
There is clearly a desire among officials In Iran to avoid any responsibility for what is happening. The civil war in Syria began in 2011 as a political battle but mutated after Iran intervened into a sectarian fight. Parts of the Arab world see what is happening in Syria, Iraq and Bahrain as a direct result of an Iranian effort to impose Shia control on the Arab world. That idea lies at the heart of the recruiting effort of many of the Sunni militias operating in Syria.