(Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Hillel Frisch - The Islamic Republic of Iran, which ranks only 17th in terms of economic output, is hardly a major power. Yet it is demonstrating almost daily its imperialist reach in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza, and is developing ballistic capabilities to threaten Europe. While China's and Russia's assertions of power are focused on land and seas contiguous to their borders, Iran is the only country whose focus is on political, military, and terrorist intervention in areas beyond its contiguous borders against states that have not struck its homeland. Israel, the state it vows to destroy, never wanted a fight with the Islamic State of Iran. A strong lobby within Israel believed for many years that Iran would renew ties for mutual benefit, as it did in the days of the Shah. The Islamic Republic of Iran created Hizbullah in faraway Lebanon to fight Israel and threaten it with 100,000 missiles. Iran is exploiting the new dynamic in Syria to transform it into another Lebanon. Imported Shiite militias under Iranian Revolutionary Guard guidance and command are creating missile sites similar to those in Lebanon. Terrorist activity is being increased, and munitions factories and forward bases are being established inside Syria and along the border of the northern Golan. The writer, a professor of political and Middle East studies at Bar-Ilan University, is a senior research associate at its BESA Center.
2018-04-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive