Posted on 11/15/2016 5:16:54 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Iran has 25,000 Shiite fighters in Syria, says ex-Shin Bet chief
Likud MK Avi Dichter warns Tehran has not abandoned its nuclear aspirations and seeks to rebuild the Persian empire
By Times of Israel staff November 3, 2016, 10:34 pm
Iran commands a force of up to 25,000 Shiite Muslim militants fighting in the Syrian civil war, a majority of them from Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter, who now chairs the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
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In a briefing with a delegation from the Swiss parliament, Dichter, a Likud MK, also echoed warnings issued previously by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials who have said that Iran has not abandoned its aspirations to develop nuclear weapons and was playing a long game with the West, despite the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal with western powers.
Iran, he added, “has not abandoned the idea [of pursuing] nuclear weapons. It only put it on hold so it can recover [from sanctions] and rehabilitate its international image.”
Tehran and six world powers signed the accord last summer aimed at reining in Iran’s controversial atomic program in exchange for lifting punishing international sanctions. A number of regional Sunni states opposed the agreement, as has Israel, warning that Iran was simply playing for time.
“Up until a year and a half ago, Iran was the reason for regional instability. It’s amazing and sad to see how among Western states, it is now perceived as a stabilizing force,” Dichter said.
Dichter also warned of Iran’s global aspirations as a Mideast power, explaining that the Islamic Republic’s “dream is to control Islam’s holiest sites ? Mecca and Medina.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
Iran is recruiting thousands of Afghan refugees living in Iran and inside Afghanistan to join the Syrian regime, an Iranian ally, in war. In exchange, the Iranian government promises legal status and cash to the refugees’ families. Roughly 3 million Afghan refugees live in Iran currently; most are undocumented.
Iran and it’s regional allies (Syria, Iraq, Hezbollah, Houthis) are the only real check on Saudi Arabia and it’s radical Sunni minions like ISIS, the Taliban and the various Sunni ‘rebels’ in Syria.
Without Iranian/Shia intervention Assad and Iraqi govt
forces would have fallen and ISIS, al Qaeda and other jihadi ‘rebels’ would be vastly stronger.
In so far Iran indeed has been a stabilizing force in the region. The true forces of instability are Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. Israel in it’s desire to see Iran and Assad weakened have played a destabilizing role in the Syrian war, too.
Again... Israeli priorities are not equal to what US security priorities should be. The threat facing the US and the whole civilized world are thr Sunni jihadist nourished by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. Not Shia militia fighting these Sunni jihadis.
Putin knows this and so far has acted accordingly.
Hopefully Trump won’t let himself pushed and taled into another diastrous decision that he criticized in the case of Iraq/Lybia/Syria.
I doubt the number is that large. If they had 25,000 men to use as cannon fodder the Syrian advance would be going a lot faster.
Interesting the Persians use AfPak Shiites as cannon fodder and not their own people.
Yet another of obama’s reliable moslem allies.
“Interesting the Persians use AfPak Shiites as cannon fodder and not their own people.”
Remember Northern Alliance which the U.S. used in its war initially against the Taliban (Pashtuns, mostly)?
Northern Alliance initially comprised of Tajik ethnic group, but also Hazaras (a Persian speaking ethnic group in Afghanistan, similar to Tajiks), and Uzbeks (Turkic speaking ethnic group, also influenced by mongols, historically & racially).
It’s outrageous that there are now 3 mil Afghan refugees in today’s Iran. Wonder why so many? Most Iranians do not want war. Iran, as is, has difficulty providing for its own citizens.
“Hopefully Trump won’t let himself pushed and taled into another diastrous decision that he criticized in the case of Iraq/Lybia/Syria.”
Hope so too. Neither Russia nor China would be happy if he tried to continue the adventures of previous administrations.
Iran has 25,000 Shiite fighters in Syria
However, Val J’s cuzzins at among them...Obama says DON’T SHOOT !
Maybe the “cuzzins” will be deported to Africa, given their ancestors and heritage.
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