Saeed Kamali Dehghan
guardian.co.uk
Thursday 14 February 2013
...A senior commander (click here) of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards has been killed while travelling from Syria to Lebanon, according to Iranian authorities.
A man identified as General Hassan Shateri was reportedly assassinated by what Iranian officials described as "the agents and supporters of the Zionist regime" while travelling from Damascus to Beirut.
It was not immediately clear in which of the two countries Shateri was killed but a Syrian rebel commander said an Iranian official was killed in an attack carried out by Syrian rebels in Zabadani in southwestern Syria, close to the Lebanese border....
There ya go. I didn't read paragraph before I posted the title.
...Iran is a staunch supporter of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, providing both with military and financial support. Syria gives Iran physical access to Lebanon and Hezbollah, which is strategically important for Tehran's leaders because of the group's geographical position in respect to Israel. Iran does not recognise Israel as a country and usually refers to it as "the Zionist regime"...
Assad is Shi'ite. Iran is a Shi'ite nation. Iran is stating the rebels are a Zionist regime to inspire other militants to attack the Syrian rebels. The West needs to end the agitators in Lebanon, like this guy, through information releases on radio and television about the status of the Syrian rebels and their cause. That will end the Zionist propaganda and any chance of escalation of tensions in Lebanon. The same is true throughout the Middle East for that matter.
Information vacuums are not a good idea for free people still finding their way though the maze.
Shateri may have staged a faux death of a Shi'ite Imam, too. It is a perfect theme to stimulate hatred between Shia and Sunni.
February 14, 2013 01:18 PM
(Last updated: February 14, 2013 07:07 PM)
| The Daily Star |
BEIRUT: There is no strong evidence that missing Lebanese Imam Musa Sadr is dead, former Lebanese minister Tarek Mitri said.
“There is no hard evidence so far of his [Sadr’s] death from those responsible for his kidnapping,” Mitri said in remarks published Thursday by the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat.
Mitri, who is now the chief of U.N. mission in Libya, said a judge from Libya and another from Lebanon were following up on Sadr’s case....
If I remember right, President Obama is due in the Middle East next week while Congress is in recess. It seems to me there was a real effort by Shateri to synchronize the escalation of tensions while the President was there.
In Iraq, the faith in the young cleric al Sadr is proving to be worthwhile. I think he needs to give lessons to Iran.
By
Associated Press – Fri, Jan 4, 2013
BAGHDAD (AP) — Firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (click here) visited a Baghdad church that was the scene of a deadly 2010 attack as well as one of the Iraqi capital's main Sunni mosques on Friday, an apparent overture to other religious groups as opposition mounts against his rival, Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki....
This visit is to a Sunni mosque. It is an outreach for peace and acceptance in Iraq. Cleric Muqtada al Sadr is a Shi'ite. The only surviving Shi'ite cleric in a ancestral line of Ayatollahs. His family was assassinated by Saddam Hussein. He was about 13 years old when he was saved and protected. It would seem he is dedicated to peace, no different than his mentor the Grand Ayatollah Sistani. It is welcome to the Middle East. He is important and should take very good care of himself. This simply proves not all Shi'ites are agitators seeking to hate Israel.
I hope he is happy. I hope his people are happy. I hope the fishing in the wetlands is again abundant.
