Tehran welcomes Islamist poll victories

A senior Iranian official has praised Islamist victories in north African elections, describing the establishment of Islamic governments in the region as an irreversible trend.

Ali-Akbar Velayati, who is believed to reflect the foreign policy views of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, said on Tuesday “the Islamic awakening” in the Middle East was not “promising” for western powers and Israel.

Independent analysts in Iran believe Tehran is relieved by the electoral victories of Islamists in Egypt and Tunisia, even though the continuation of protests in Syria, Iran’s closest Arab ally, remains a cause for concern.

Preliminary results from the first of three rounds of voting in Egypt have given the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party and the more radical Nour party an absolute majority.
“This means a kind of Islamic state . . . in which there should be no law that violates Islamic values,” Mr Velayati said, adding that the Arab world would follow Egypt’s example.

Speaking at a press conference on regional developments, he stressed that Egypt would not return to the era which led to the Camp David Accords with Israel in 1978.

“Western countries are no longer able to impose their policies on Muslims, nor do Islamic states have the patience to endure the west’s orders,” Mr Velayati said.

Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the last say in all affairs of state, was in February quick to call the Arab uprisings an “Islamic awakening” rather than an “Arab spring”.

Iran established the World Assembly of the Islamic Awakening this year to promote Islamic movements in the region. The assembly, which the government says is a non-governmental organisation, hosted about 1,000 Islamic thinkers from the Middle East in September. It will meet to discuss youth in the Arab world in January.

Mr Velayati, who is the secretary-general of the assembly, said such gatherings showed Iran was not a “mere observer” in the region but gave assistance to “those who are keen to return to Islamic values”.

Iran considers all regional opposition movements legitimate, with the exception of the nine-month uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Syrian president, which it alleges is driven by the west as a way of destroying “resistance” to Israel.

Mr Velayati insisted that the Syrian uprising had passed its worst and the Assad regime would not collapse thanks to the government’s “strong roots” in Syrian society.

He added that Burhan Ghalioun, head of the opposition Syrian national council, had no social base in the country and accused him of being an “agent” of the west and Israel.

Mr Ghalioun told the Wall Street Journal this month that he would cut military ties with Iran and end the supply of arms to Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia movement which is considered Iran’s proxy force in the Middle East.

Source: The Financial Times