‘US most hated entity in Middle East’

Press TV has conducted an interview with Massoud Shadjareh, a political commentator, about remarks made by Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on the failed plots of enemies against Muslim nations.

What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Please, first of all, walk us through the comments made by Ayatollah Khamenei regarding the failure of the United States in gaining dominance in West Asia?

Shadjareh: Well, West Asia or otherwise known as the Middle East has really been where the United States has been trying to dominate for a very long time and indeed to support state of Israel, its domination of the region, and it has failed abysmally. I mean… what happened in Lebanon, in the war against Lebanon… And no matter how much effort was put, the Lebanese were victorious, Hezbollah was victorious, Hezbollah became more powerful. Then their plots and planning against Gaza failed because Gaza still stands up and resists against the Zionist state and indeed is more confident and more powerful.

Now, we see what happened in Syria and the reality is that resistance again has become extremely more powerful and the Lebanese resistance and indeed the resistance now inside Syria is becoming much more powerful.

Their plots in Iraq have failed also. Really in what we see very clearly that the elements of resistance against the Zionist state is becoming more and more powerful and indeed those who support the Zionist state are being exposed. I mean, for example, a few years ago, there was still sort of ambiguity around the Saudis and some of these [Persian] Gulf states’ support for the state of Israel. Now, we see very clearly that they are part of the support of US hegemony and indeed the state of Israel and they’re exposed and I believe, very clearly, that it will not be long before we see the end of the state of Israel because really they are exposed extremely within the ordinary people in the Middle East.

And when you look at sort of US in the Middle East, US is one of the most hated entities in the Middle East and continues to sort of actually take that position year after year. I mean, if anything, it is being hated more and more; and people in Iraq, people in Syria look at the policies and the misery that their policy of the United States has brought and they’re actually hating what they do. And I think, from that point of view, we need to very clearly recognize the statement by the Leader of the Islamic Republic as one which is really factual.

Press TV: Ayatollah Khamenei also, one of the elements that he attributed the failure of United States in expanding its hegemony in West Asia [to]…. he attributed it to the Islamic Revolution of Iran and revolutionary Islam. Can you elaborate on those notions for us, also what he meant by revolutionary Islam?

Shadjareh: Well, revolutionary Islam, which is the reality… sort of resistance, Islamic resistance, it is what was sort of born out of the Revolution in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Prior to that, Islam wasn’t really political, economical and indeed sort of seen as any sort of power whatsoever. That power came to be through the Islamic Republic and the fact of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. And indeed now we see very clearly after that the Palestinians and the others resisted not by ideology of East or West but by the ideology of Islam.

And that resistance has become extremely strengthened in the last 10-15 years and we see, day by day, that is becoming more powerful, more prominent and really what rules the resistance area is Islam. And I think Ayatollah Khamenei would never say this but the reality is that all credit goes to him for being the head of the Islamic Republic and head of this resistance and sort of the mastermind of supporting that resistance. And we see the result of that now right across the Middle East the way that people are rising up and asking for their right and their empowerment by holding on to their belief in Islam and actually to Islamic resistance.