General

West after own interests in MENA

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says Western countries have developed different strategies regarding the recent revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to safeguard their interests in the region.

“There are different reasons for the West’s different reactions. One of them is the nature of the interests. For instance, the US needs to guarantee its domination over oil resources in Libya and since [Muammar] Gaddafi is no way defendable they are seeking other ways to guarantee their domination,” ISNA quoted Larijani as saying on Saturday.

He further pointed out that the US speculated that the opposition in Libya would be against the West domination so it had to resort to other options to shield their interests.

Bahrain is also a strategic region for them (Americans) since it is home to the [fifth] US naval fleet. They also don’t see the recent revolution [in Bahrain] to their benefit … therefore, they allowed Saudi Arabia to occupy Bahrain so that they would prevent the victory of the revolution and spark a rift between Sunnis and Shias,” he added.

Larijani cast doubt on the West’s claim of supporting the opposition in regional countries, including Libya and Bahrain.

The question is that if the US and the West want to support opposition, why are Gaddafi’s bases targeted by aircraft and missiles under the pretext of supporting revolutionary people while the revolutionaries are being repressed in Bahrain?”

Anti-government protests have been going on in Libya, where many civilians have been killed since the US, Britain, France and some other Western countries initiated their attacks on the North African country.

According to US Navy Vice Admiral William Gortney, more than 350 aircraft are participating in the US-led airstrikes against crisis-hit Libya.

The US-led Operation Odyssey Dawn began on March 19 after the UN Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Libya to “protect civilians” from Gaddafi’s attacks.

In Bahrain, at least 24 people have been killed and thousands more wounded since the beginning of the recent uprising in the Persian Gulf country.

Saudi forces have been helping the Bahraini government with severe crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The Bahraini demonstrators maintain that they will hold their ground until their demands for freedom and constitutional monarchy are met. They also want a say in the government.

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