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Henry Kissinger calls Iran a ‘bigger threat than ISIS’

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'There has come into being a kind of a Shia belt from Tehran through Baghdad to Beirut,' said the veteran former diplomat, 91. (AFP)
‘There has come into being a kind of a Shia belt from Tehran through Baghdad to Beirut,’ said the veteran Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger -(AFP)

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has said that Iran “is a bigger problem that ISIS,” in an interview with Washington-based National Public Radio.

“There has come into being a kind of a Shia belt from Tehran through Baghdad to Beirut,” said the veteran former diplomat, 91, who served under disgraced President Richard Nixon in the 1970s. “And this gives Iran the opportunity to reconstruct the ancient Persian Empire – this time under the Shia label – in the rebuilding of the Middle East”

“ISIS is a group of adventurers with a very aggressive ideology,” he continued. “But they have to conquer more and more territory before they can became a strategic, permanent reality. I think a conflict with ISIS – important as it is – is more manageable than a confrontation with Iran.”

On Sunday, Iran accused the United States of not taking the threat from ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria seriously, and charged that U.S. aid had previously helped the extremists.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif leveled the accusations despite an expanding U.S. air campaign in Iraq since August 8 that provided key support in relieving a jihadist siege of a Shiite Turkmen town north of Baghdad late last month, reported Agence France-Presse.

Iran and the United States have a shared opposition to ISIS, which controls a swathe of both Iraq and neighbouring Syria, but both governments deny cooperating militarily against the group.

“There is still no serious understanding about the threat and they (the United States) have as yet taken no serious action,” Zarif was quoted as saying by Iran’s Mehr news agency.

 

Al Arabiya

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27 responses to “Henry Kissinger calls Iran a ‘bigger threat than ISIS’”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Another ‘old fart’ weighing in … like El Supremo now, can’t boink the ladies any more either.
    All the Old Farts still send the kids to play in the old ancient ways. ‘Protect us’, they scream.
    Although, considering that it was all those Old Farts who set up MOST of the problems when they were younger ….. maybe Henry knows of what he speaks. A little. Sort of wishy-washy ….
    “… conflict with ISIS … more manageable than a confrontation with Iran ..” Well, DUH !!

    Even with the ‘Persian Sect’ in here, I doubt the Ancient Heads are what the youth would prefer. 😉
    And old ‘Tricky Dickey’ probably wouldn’t have like Obama either.

  2. Hannibal Avatar
    Hannibal

    Aren’t you dead yet? conscienceless warmonger…

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Hannibal … you know the song …. ‘Only the good ….’ 😉

      1. Hannibal Avatar
        Hannibal

        True…

      2. $89733098 Avatar
        $89733098

        Obviously u r not good

        1. 5thDrawer Avatar
          5thDrawer

          Probably not …. Only one ‘guest’ thinks so …

  3. zabada Avatar
    zabada

    look .as I said…now ,even before they deserve to destroy Iran .On behalf of Jews too.Jews eyes is focus on Arabs world,including Iran,to destroy .Russia is not a treat to Jews.So they left iRussia a lone.So American politicians.One day Russian and china will defeat the west.America is having too many enemies.The west better stay a way from america.

    1. JUDO Avatar
      JUDO

      Bad logic, grammar and spelling. You must be inbred from the Middle East!

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        Another reincarnation ???? Hmmmm .. I remember that body …. ;-))))

      2. zabada Avatar
        zabada

        Coward always having arrogant heart,bad big mouth..How bad you are.

        1. JUDO Avatar
          JUDO

          I hope that is not your actual picture. If so I can better appreciate why ISIS are gang raping. They are all as ugly as you and cannot find a woman except through violence. Such complete animals. But I am Droning on!!!

          1. zabada Avatar
            zabada

            you are bad under age boy.I don,t like to disquss withy you.I hope God will burnt you in hell fire forever.I want see you in there for your accuse wrong men .Let we see after here after.That is your fate.Remember that insane bastard.

          2. JUDO Avatar
            JUDO

            ISIL are gang rapists and deserve Ordnance dropping on them. Barbarians, I also do not disqus with you. Your grammar and lack of ability for creative thought shows evidence of an underdeveloped brain with cognitive impairment in the temporal lobe. Result of all of this will be continued membership in ISIS with fatal wounds from a female pilot or Peshmerga.

          3. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            I’m guessing u r over cooked.

          4. JUDO Avatar
            JUDO

            I Drone on and on , but ISIS are gang raping thugs and are getting cooked in Iraq by airpower and the Iraq Army. Happy 911 to all of ISIS supporters. I am having Roast pork and a Beer. Fine dining !

          5. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            drone(n): A drone is someone who follows an ideology or some other form of idealization blindlessly and uncritically.

            The nouns original meaning is used in context with “social” insects, which are ordered into a hive structure. In an insect hive, drones are the workers – the ones gathering food, building the hive – in short: maintaining the hive, controlled by the queen, if not by some common instinctual fellowship and hierarchal order.

            Describes u perfectly cooked2long

          6. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Well, at least we know there are few drones left in Syria and fewer in Iraq as each day passes. The ‘Queens’ are going to be hungry, along with the citizens. Eventually.

          7. JUDO Avatar
            JUDO

            Drone is a device designed to exterminate vermin. It is unmanned and flies in the air with radar guided ordnance. Most recent targets have been members of ISIS and the Leader of Al Shabaab. The targets tend to be from societies that are unable to understand complexities such as building aircraft or why anything other than birds is able to fly.

          8. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            Cookedstupidly u need to defrost before being microwaved. Otherwise u turn out the way u did. Drone

          9. JUDO Avatar
            JUDO

            Microwave- A device invented in the United States and used world wide for cooking food. It is popular with people world wide who live in nations unable to invent any technology or manufacture devices like Cars or iPhones. Many of them join ISIS and Al Queda out of inferiority and ignorance.

  4. guest Avatar
    guest

    Iran who as a state is the major reason behind the institutionalization of extremism, and taking radicalization beyond the basis of individual cases. Iran contributed to establishing and spreading extremist organizations under the slogan of exporting the Islamic revolution. It is only after the genie escaped the bottle that the Iranians felt the gravity of the threat against them and against their allies in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

    Iran is also responsible for supporting extremist Sunni groups in northern Lebanon since the 1980s. It supported these groups against Saudi Arabia’s allies. Iran also established and supported extremist Palestinian groups to firstly weaken Fatah and then to weaken the Palestinian Authority. This fell within the context of regional competition over controlling Palestinian decision-making. Since the 1980s, Iran has been a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, particularly in Egypt and Sudan. It’s for the sake of glorifying extremists that it named a street in Tehran after Khaled Islambouli, the extremist who assassinated Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat. There’s plenty of evidence regarding Iran’s mistakes in sponsoring Khawarij and Shiite religious extremism and activities.

    The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Hezbollah and other brutal extremist groups came into existence due to Iran and its sectarian doctrines. Religious extremism as an institution is a direct product of the Iranian revolution which brought an extremist Shiite religious group to power in 1979 under the leadership of Khomeini. It is since then that the Islamic world leaned towards religious extremism and radicalism.

    That paved way for the intolerance and threats against prominent authors and television producers in Iran and Europe under the excuse of defending Islam when in fact these threats were political moves made within the context of the struggle with the West. There also exists a long list of moderate figures, reformists and intellectuals who were either jailed or who fled Iran.

    Hasan Eshkevari is in exile in Germany, along with other Iranian intellectuals, because the Iranian regime pursued such people for their ideas. Eshkevari wrote against the principle of velayat-e-faqih. He was thus sentenced to death and the verdict was commuted in absentia.

    Shiite extremism is brutal and which exceeds its bounds more often. They practice continuous suppression against civil intellect. Iranian religious moderates lost and most of them were eliminated from the fields of media, education and politics until the regime became an exclusive extremist Shiite party which now controls all aspects of the Iranian people’s lives. The regime did not settle at eliminating moderate figures inside Iran but also supported extremists abroad as a basic pillar of its policies. It thus supported religious groups in Shiite communities in Lebanon, Iraq and the Gulf and it marginalized civil Shiite parties. This is how Hezbollah was born in Lebanon.

    Iran overlook history and decide who is extremist and who is moderate. Yes, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, is a terrifying extremist figure and so was Hezbollah’s Imad Mughniyah, who was notorious for his brutality. Both of them abducted civilians and killed civilian hostages. Both falsely used the name of God and Islam to justify their crimes. Iran raised and trained such people and currently supports the Houthis in Yemen – a tribal group which follows the Zaydi sect and whose members converted to Shiism. They are currently, like ISIS, raising the caliphate flag, labeling their leader a caliph, declaring disobedience against the state and looting cities and towns which oppose them. Despite this, Iran supports them and helps them!

    It’s also important for the Lebanese party Hezbollah to end its religious war against Syrians and other Lebanese parties. Iran must first admit the problem that extremism it started has infiltrated countries and societies. They must confront this on the educational, media and religious levels without exception as extremist groups which raise the slogan of religion are all alike.

    Iran should change its policy of exporting extremism and stop supporting extremist groups. They along with their allies and followers already have played with millions of innocent lives!

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Anyone who begins by saying, ‘Hello. I’m Supreme.’ HAS to be immediately suspect.

  5. guest Avatar
    guest

    Iran’s Sectarianism: Treatment Of Sunnis In Shia Iran

    Today, Sunnis in Iran have a substantial population (around 15 million), and here are some of the many problems Sunni communities face in Iran. Some of the following items may surprise you, but it is obvious that there is currently very serious Shiite sectarian discrimination in Iran.

    Sunnis living in Iran are not allowed to name their children as they like. There is a book of permitted names at civil registers, and no one can pick a name that is not in this book. For instance, Iranian authorities do not allow people to choose Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, or Aisha as names for their children. Civil registers won’t put these names on ID cards. They tend to refer to the famed Persian poet Omar Khayyam as Khayyam, dropping the Omar part.

    Sunnis are allowed to serve in the military, but they are not permitted to become officers.
    Almost all administrative or employment forms contain the question, “Are you Sunni or Shiite?”
    Printing of Sunni reference books is not free.
    Religious courses given in schools in predominantly Sunni regions teach Shiite beliefs. Little information is given about Sunnism.

    Several years ago, a political decision was made to introduce a Shiite representative of the spiritual leader (Wilayat-e Faqih or Guardianship of the Jurist) to religious madrasas belonging to Sunnis. This representative enjoys extraordinary power and authority. He can appoint or remove from office anyone at will. The practice, opposed by Sunnis for the time being, enables Shiite beliefs to be taught in these madrasas.
    Every year, the “Week of Union” is marked in Iran to promote rapprochement between Shiites and Sunnis. But this is just a slogan, and this activity is intended to lure Sunnis into Shiism. So their message is, “Come and join us so that Islam becomes united.”

    Currently, there is not a single Sunni minister in the current cabinet. However, since the public elects deputies, there are several Sunni deputies in Parliament.
    Sunni madrasas and mosques are not provided any state support. They are maintained by the endeavors and efforts of Sunni communities.
    Recently, two Sunni mosques were demolished by the state, citing various reasons, in Mashhad and Bojnourd.

    Although there are around 2 million Sunnis living in Tehran, there is not a single Sunni mosque where they can perform their prayers but there are synagogues, churches, and temples. This is somehow justified by saying “we’re all Muslim, why seperate Masjids? Moreover, Sunnis who used to go to the Pakistani Embassy School and the Indonesian Embassy to perform their Friday prayers are now prohibited from doing so; this is a clear indication of the pressures against them. Although there are numerous churches (mostly Armenian) in Tehran, it is peculiar that there is not a single Sunni mosque.
    In Iran, Sunni scholars are prohibited from gathering together. They cannot travel freely — abroad or at home.
    Sometimes, TV channels, radio stations and magazines openly insult the well-respected figures of Ahl al-Sunnah [non-Shiites and those who follow the Sunnah]. In particular, they openly attack Aisha.
    Are you a Muslim? Are you Sunni? These questions are very common. Ahl al-Sunna is generally designated as Ahl al-Dalalah (the misguided).
    Shiites call Abu Lolo — a Persian soldier also known as Pirouz Nahavandi — who martyred the Caliph Umar, Father Lolo. They do this out of respect for him and, until very recently, they would visit Abu Lolo’s grave in Kashan near Isfahan in an ostentatious way to hurt Sunnis. (The death of Caliph Umar is a sad event for Muslims, so a loud homage to Abu Lolo is very hurtful to Muslims.) On the anniversary of the martyrdom of Caliph Umar, they hold a ceremony they call Djashn-e Omar koshi (the celebration of the killing of Umar), and create a statue of Umar and throw dirt and other things on it. This ceremony is still held in the south of Tehran and in some parts of the country.
    All of the administrators in predominantly Sunni regions are Shiite. Sunnis are never allowed to become such administrators.
    Sunnis do not have their own TV channels, radio stations,
    newspapers or magazines. In comparison, Armenians have their own newspapers and magazines published in Armenian, and Zoroastrians have their own newspapers and magazines.
    Sunnis who changed their sects to become Shiite are given positions and ranks.
    Sunnis are prohibited from wearing their traditional apparel at school, and instead, they are made to wear a particular uniform.
    Sunni languages (Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Talesh, Kurdish, Baluch) are not taught in school.
    Sunni scholars who deliver sermons parallel to (or in line with) their beliefs are punished. Recently, Abdolali Khayrshahi, a Baluchi imam, and Eyup Genci, suffered serious torture. Sunni scholars were executed on various charges in Iranshahr.
    Although popular among Sunnis, Sufism is forbidden in Iran.
    All religious leaders whom Shiites love are also loved by Ahl al-Sunnah, but Shiites do not pay the slightest respect to the leaders loved by Ahl al-Sunnah. Thus, they say, “May God’s curse be upon him/her” when the names of highly respected leaders of Islamic history such as the caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Muawiyah as well as the wife of Prophet Muhammad, Aisha, are mentioned.
    When Ali Shariati argued as a result of his studies that some of the Shiite practices against Ahl al-Sunnah are unjust and wrong, Shiite Iranians accused him of being a Sunni. Until recently, his books were censored in Iran.
    Iran considers defending the rights of Shiites in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to be its responsibility. Is it so merciless against Sunnis in its territories because it sees them as unprotected? Is it the sort of justice and fairness that their understanding of Islam dictates? Or does Iran obtain a sort of satisfaction connected to some historical incidents?

    The ongoing merciless and inhuman oppression of more than 15 million Sunnis in Iran. As is known, Iran never exhibited support of Muslims in the face of the injustices and tyrannies they faced in Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir and China. Why? Because Iran did not dare confront Europe in Bosnia, Russia in Chechnya, India in Kashmir and China in China, and the Muslims in these areas are Sunni. Why does it care about Iraq and Palestine? First of all, it has perfectly good relations with the large Shiite population in Iraq, and it exerts much influence over them. Second, by pretending that it cares about the Palestinian issue, it seeks to create grounds for conflict with Israel and to benefit from this conflict. In any case, any chaos in the Middle East serves to extend the life of the regime in Iran. Iran does not have any agenda items other than nuclear energy and conflict with Israel. When these two elements are removed, the game Iran is playing will end, and it will have to deal with its internal conflicts. Unjust pressure against Iran’s Sunnis has never been on the agenda of Turkish foreign policy. The problems Sunnis are facing in Iran are not heard in Ankara as they never make it to Turkey’s embassy in Tehran. In addition to the above-mentioned problems, the intensity of pressure against Sunnis has recently increased, going beyond the limits of endurance.

    Sunnis face the most hatred and biased treatment among all the other minorities in Iran. Their scholars are either scared into silence or may face prison or death sentences. Ayatullah Al Burqui was a prominent leading Shia figure and when he became Sunni he was shot. He survived but was sentenced to life in prison where he eventually died. Similar consequences could be faced for simply saying in public that Ibn Taymiya was a “good man who preached tolerance. (whether you agree with that statement or not).

    In Iran, if you simply are against asking intercession from the dead at graves, you could be labelled a “Wahabi” and taken to court and face extreme sentences.

    The Revolutionary Guards surround the Friday Mosque in the city of Kamyaran in Kurdistan province and search people who wanted to perform the Friday prayer to provoke them.

    Not only Sunnis, but also Arab Shias in the Ahwaz region on the other side of the gulf. Japan stopped selling Iran machinery used for construction because they are used to publically hang people in Al Ahwaz region.

    This is due to the Safavid heritage that is still alive and well in Iran.

    Sufism is much more tolerated however. Actually Iran does sometimes provide support for SOME Sufis (the ones that agree with them), but not all.

    Apparently Shias will let no chance go away, where they can kill and damage sunnis, just look at how Iran and Hezbollah is helping nusayri(Alawi shia) Bashar Assad to do his atrocities against the syrians people. They barbarically massacred hundreds of thousands innocent Sunnis and Christians. This is an eye opener for all those who shout the shia sunni brotherly unity. IF Shias sincerely want to be brothers in Islam then Iran and hezbollah should play a role in a peacefull transition of Power to Syrian people and show the sunnis that we are ready to be brothers in Islam.

    Why they financed and harboured Qaeda operatives?
    Why they support, fund, and export extremism?
    Why they let the Zionists massacre thousands of Sunnis by using its proxy, Hama’s? What happened to the cause of Palestine and its people which they shout?
    Why they created chaos in Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, etc. using sectarianism and shias there?
    Why they help create Isis? Who’s benefiting or benefited from its creation?
    Why they are protecting Assad?
    Why they have held Lebanon hostage using its proxy, Hezbollah?
    Why are they so power hungry to takeover sunni dominant areas and countries and to rise into power in ME?
    Why they want to establish Shiite crescent when they consider Sunnis as brothers? What is their intention behind this? What happened to the sweet talks of Sunni-Shia unity which they preach?
    Things to ponder over by the advocates of peace and Sunni Shia unity!

  6. arzatna1 Avatar
    arzatna1

    Since Iran and the islamic State are both huge threats to the region, the solution is to use the air strikes to divert the ISIS terrorists from Iraq and Syria to Iran and let them fight it out over there.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Not a bad idea, arzatna … but you know the Million-man Quds-chewing army is there.

      1. arzatna1 Avatar
        arzatna1

        Chewing is the name of the game. Perhaps Hezbollah will come to the rescue of the Million-man Quds. Nasrallah is waiting for a call from the Supremo

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    Quick and easy exelon purchase online

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