Continued suppression to weaken Egypt: Iran defense minister

Iran’s new Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan has warned that continued suppression in Egypt will only weaken the African country’s national power.

“The unfortunate events in Egypt will bear no result but the constant weakening of the national might in this country,” Dehqan said on Saturday.

“The persistence of the present situation [in Egypt] will entail the expansion of internal clashes, and, ultimately, a social and security failure in the country,” the Iranian defense minister added.

Dehqan also warned that, “The expansion of instability in Egypt and an increase in regional insecurity will lead to the formation of a security vacuum in North Africa and will prepare the ground for the presence of transregional forces, and can in the long run tilt the balance in favor of the West and the Zionist regime (Israel).”

The failure of the parties to the Egypt conflict to find a solution based on dialog and national consensus will further fuel the crisis and weaken the Islamic front, the defense minister noted.

He stressed the importance of establishing democracy and heeding public demands in Egypt.

On Friday, tens of thousands of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood activists and their supporters across the country took part in what the party called the “Day of Rage” against the army and its handpicked government.

The security forces and the opponents of the Brotherhood opened fire on the pro-Morsi supporters, leaving more than 100 people dead and hundreds more injured across the country.

The carnage followed an earlier mass killing on Wednesday, when Egyptian security forces killed almost 640 people during a crackdown on two pro-Morsi camps – one near the Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo’s Nasr City and another one in Nahda Square in Giza.

Egypt has been the scene of massive protests since July 3, when army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi removed Morsi from office, suspended the constitution and dissolved the parliament.

The Iranian defense minister further expressed regret over the chain terrorist attacks in Lebanon, particularly the recent deadly bomb blast in the southern suburb of Beirut, which left many people dead or wounded.

“Signs of a complex and multifaceted plan influenced by the developments in Syria and aimed at creating sectarian, ethnic and religious conflicts to weaken the anti-Israeli resistance front and cause insecurity are seen in Lebanon, which necessitate more vigilance by all groups, ethnicities and religions” Dehqan stated.

More than 20 people died and 200 others were injured in a powerful car bomb explosion that rocked the Zahiyeh suburb, between Bir el-Abed and Rweiss neighborhoods, south of Beirut, on Thursday.

The explosion took place in an area where the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has a huge following. Some 60 kilograms of TNT were reportedly used in the car bombing.

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said on Thursday night that the deadly bombing bears the hallmarks of an Israeli attack.

Later, Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah blamed Takfiri groups, which he said have been infiltrated by Israeli and US intelligence agencies, for the car bomb attack.