The Islamic Republic has spent weeks warning all Arabs that the West is trying to take over the Arab spring and use the uprisings for the West’s own benefit. In Libya, it has been most vocal about warning Libyans that NATO is seeking to take over entire country, steal their oil and subvert their revolution.
In a broadcast last week, Qadhdhafi made exactly the same points, telling Libyans NATO plans to occupy their country and take over their oil.
Interestingly, Qadhdhafi latest radio harangue was broadcast over a Syrian radio station.
The day before, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi told the Iranian public that the West was trying to hijack the Arab revolutions to the benefit of the West.
The Islamic Republic always said it supported the revolution in Libya, but it devoted most of its propaganda over the last six months to denouncing NATO. It said next-to-nothing about Qadhdhafi’s military actions against his own people. Only after Qadhdhafi fell did the Islamic Republic say it had sent some shipments of aid to the Libyan rebels.
Now Iran has announced it has invited the head of the Libyan National Transitional Council to visit Iran “to deepen bilateral ties.” This was curious given that Iran still has not officially recognized the Council as the new government of Libya.
The head of the Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, has not said whether he will visit Iran.
Meanwhile, documents unearthed in Libya revealed that three Chinese arms manufacturers were negotiating weapons sales to Qadhdhafi in recent months since the revolution against him erupted. China said the firms were not acting with the knowledge of the Chinese government.