December 3, 2024
Upheavals in Lebanon and Iraq Throw a Monkey Wrench Into Iran's Strategic Designs
Anti-government protesters clash with riot policemen during a protest against government's plans to impose new taxes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Nationwide protests paralyzed Lebanon on Friday as thousands of demonstrators blocked major roads in a second day of rallies against the government's handling of a severe economic crisis and the country's political class they perceive as being corrupt.
Anti-government protesters clash with riot policemen during a protest against government’s plans to impose new taxes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Nationwide protests paralyzed Lebanon on Friday as thousands of demonstrators blocked major roads in a second day of rallies against the government’s handling of a severe economic crisis and the country’s political class they perceive as being corrupt.

In Lebanon and Iraq, governments dominated by Iran-friendly Shiite Muslims have been forced to resign while in Syria and Yemen, Iranian power is ebbing.

Anyone who can read a map knows that Iran’s grand strategic vision for Shia hegemony is faltering. And the mullahs who dreamed it up are panicking.

The National:

Iran’s projects in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen are coming under siege to such an extent that its leaders are in a state of panic. In Syria, the Iranian project has been set back by a Russian-approved US-Turkish deal, effectively blocking the strategic causeway Tehran was planning to complete its crescent of power, stretching all the way from Tehran to the Mediterranean via Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. In Iraq, there is a Shiite backlash against Iran’s excessive meddling in Iraq, to the point that protesters are chanting: “Iran get out”, despite a violent backlash from the IRGC-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces, who have fired live ammunition at protesters in Karbala, the consecrated heartland of Shiite religious doctrine.

In Lebanon, fear of Hezbollah has collapsed along with the unity government of accord it forms part of and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is reduced to pointing the finger of blame. In Yemen, Iran’s expansionist project is facing a setback as the Saudi-Emirati exit strategy from the war is bearing fruit, giving Houthis a new path of belonging to a federalised Yemen, instead of looking towards Iran and its attempts at warmongering, with funds dwindling under US sanctions.

Iranian leaders, reeling from sanctions and growing unrest among the young and unemployed masses, have sought to goad Trump into attacking them. It has apparently failed.

[…]

See Also:

(1) Three killed as Iraq protesters attack Iran consulate in Karbala

(2) Protests toppled two governments in three days, but the fight is only beginning

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