THE LEADERS OF FRIDAY PRAYER ADVOCATE PALESTINIAN CONFERENCE OVER KHUZESTAN’S ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

March 1, 2017

The Leader of Tehran Friday Prayer as well as the Leader of Mashhad Friday Prayer pointed to the issue of Palestine, as the major priority of the Iranian regime. The Palestinian Conference represents the efficient management and the power of the Islamic Republic, while despite domestic problems including dust and flood crisis are ignored.

State-run Fars News Agency reported that in Mashhad, during the February 24th sermons, Ahmad Alamolhoda stated, ”The people of Khuzestan sacrificed their lives and were martyred under the mortar and rocket attacks launched by these infidels. Why should we stop displaying such authority due to the water and electricity outage of Khuzestan? Shouldn’t we show our power?”  He added, “You say that we don’t show the power of Islam to the world or we don’t declare that Erdogan (Turkey’s president) and Saudi Arabia are the puppets of the United States and they are in complicity with Israel, because the flood has struck or the water and electricity cut off in Khuzestan?”  The Leader of Friday Prayer stressed, “The Palestinian Conference will paralyze the supporters of Israel in the world. By holding this conference, the Islamic Republic intended to declare to the West that this is the start of war with Israel.”

On February 21st, the 6th International Conference in support of the Palestinian Intifada began, with the presence of the Supreme Leader of Iran, the heads of three branches, the head of the Assembly of Experts, the IRGC and Army commanders, ministers, and the members of Parliament of Iran.

The Supreme Leader once again described Israel as a “cancerous tumor” and a “fake existence”.  He warned that if a group leaves the “path of resistance”, it has also abandoned the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to Mehdi Taeb, head of the Strategic Ammar Headquarters, ”Syria is our 35th province and it is a strategic zone for us. The major priority is to defend Syria if the enemy intends to attack and conquer Syria or Khuzestan.”

In Tehran, Mohammad Ali Movahedi, The Leader of Friday Prayer, stated, “We cannot disregard the issue of Palestine. Our national and political interests are tied to the problems exist in Palestine.”

While accurate figures haven’t been released regarding the financial support provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran to Palestinian, Hezbollah groups or the Assad regime, some analysts estimate that these costs run as high as billions of dollars annually.  In fact, Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy to Syria, claims that the Iranian regime spends 6 billion dollars annually to support the Assad regime. Additionally, Nadeem Shahadi, analyst at Chatham House Institute, stated in an interview with Bloomberg News that the Syrian regime received an amount of $14 to $15 billion dollars in 2012, and 2013, from Tehran.

In 2010, Hezbollah officials announced that since 2006, the Islamic Republic of Iran has spent nearly $1 billion dollars to rebuild the ruins of war with Israel.