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Most Arabs Won't Miss Iran's Ayatollahs If They Fall

[Jerusalem Post] Khaled Abu Toameh - Many Arab governments, including the PA, are quietly hoping that the latest crisis in Iran marks the end of the radical regime of the ayatollahs and President Ahmadinejad. Frustrated with Tehran's meddling in their internal affairs, the relatively moderate, pro-Western governments in Ramallah, Cairo, Beirut, and Riyadh are hoping that regime change in Iran would undermine radical Islamic groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah. These groups, together with Syria - Iran's strategic ally - have long been viewed as a main source of instability in the Middle East. "The pro-Iran camp in the Arab world is very worried," wrote Abdel Rahman Rashed in the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. "It's natural for Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other pro-Iran groups to be afraid because their existence depends solely on the radical regime in Iran." An adviser to PA leader Abbas said, "Without Iran's support, Hamas couldn't have staged a coup in Gaza two years ago." Hafez Barghouti, editor of the PA-funded Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, held Tehran responsible for the ongoing differences between Hamas and Fatah, saying that the Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has been turned into another ayatollah.
2009-06-22 06:00:00
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