Clip Iran's wings in Lebanon and Iraq
It is not hard to see why the Iranian regime has become unpopular in Iraq and Lebanon. This has nothing to do with Al Arabiya TV or the hashtags of an electronic army, as claimed by Iranian regime officials. In Iraq, there is neither internet nor social media. Iraq's government has blacked out the internet to please the Iranians, who think cyberspace is responsible for the waves of incitement among the local population. Yet the uprising is alive and continuing.
Tehran claims that the millions of protesters who have flooded the streets in Iraqi and Lebanese cities in the past two weeks have been stirred by Saudi Arabia and Israel. However, protestors feel Iran is responsible for the pervasive poverty in their country, dominance of militia in their countries, and the failure of their governments. Come to think of it, it is difficult to contest such claims by the people.
All armed militias in Iraq are affiliated with Iran or its allies. Hezbollah in Lebanon is stronger than the national army and is affiliated with Iran. A lot of governments from across the world refrain from dealing with Iraq and Lebanon because of Iran's influence in both these states.
Saudi Arabia supported Lebanon's currency by depositing funds in its central bank, while Hezbollah's domination of Lebanon's state institutions is in a way responsible for the decline in the currency's value. These are well-known facts, and people do not need TV channels or hashtags to know that these are the sources of their misery.
In Iraq, the Iranian project relied on the seizure of state institutions: parliament, political parties, and the armed forces, which were forced to incorporate Iran's militias. So as the situation worsened, people rose up in Iraq - and not as Sunnis against Shiites, or as one party against another.
The uprising was not led by the remnants of the Baath Party, neither did it raise the black flag of Daesh. The Iraqi uprising is purely peaceful and patriotic, despite attempts by Iranian media to describe it as foreign-driven. Its spectrum is broad and demands are primarily focused on improving the living conditions in the country.
Peaceful protests have taken place in Baghdad, Basra, Karbala, Najaf, and other parts of Iraq. Most of these governorates have a Shiite majority. They demand an end to corruption, an improvement in the government's performance, and the elimination of armed militias and Iran's influence.
They call for independence of Iraq and its identity. Iran threatens to demolish everything if 30 million Iraqis stand in the way of its project to control the country.
In Lebanon, the movement has similar features. The protests are against corruption, the political mafia and the government's sectarianism. The massive demonstrations have not only taken place in Beirut, but also in Sunni-majority Tripoli, and Shiite-populated Nabatieh and Baalbek.
Christian protesters have demanded the removal of corrupt Christian ministers. Sunnis were the first to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and many Shiite clerics have expressed their rejection of Hezbollah.
People have lost their patience as travails to improve the economic conditions in the country continue to disappoint. The young and the old are on the streets demanding for a better life, a better future.
The resolve, determination, and massive support among the people will bring about change - or at least their message has been heard loud and clear.
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat
