Iran Plans Union of 'Martyrs’ Foundations' With Iraq, Lebanese Allies
Despite recent criticism over a deal between Iran and Iraq martyrs’ foundations, Tehran plans for a regional union of similar entities in Iraq and Lebanon.
Despite recent criticism over a deal between Iran and Iraq martyrs’ foundations, Tehran plans for a regional union of similar entities in Iraq and Lebanon.
In his speech before the sermons at Tehran Friday prayers, the head of Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, said he wanted to establish the “Union of Martyrs’ Foundations of the Resistance Axis.”
This would include Iranians and Iraqis killed in the 1980-88 war, as well as those killed in the ‘resistance axis’ of Iran-backed militias, including Palestinian and Iraqi groups, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Estimates of deaths in the 1980-88 war have ranged from 500,000 to 1 million.
Ghazizadeh said that “so far Lebanon and Iraq have announced their readiness.” He praised the “the axis of resistance” as “a symbol of self-sacrifice” and called on Iranians to “stand with our dear brothers…committed to the culture of the revolution around the world.”
The Iraqi martyr’s foundation is run by the government, while in Lebanon the Martyrs Foundation is a Hezbollah support network sanctioned by the United States. There is also a Palestinian martyrs foundation in Lebanon.
Earlier in March, Ghazizadeh signed a deal to provide a wide range of services to Iraqi veterans, including those from the Iraq-Iran war, drawing criticism and calls for his resignation from Iranians and veterans who say Iran can barely provide the needed services for its own veterans and their families
Ayatollah Reza Ramezani, a supporter of Ali Khamenei, claimed on Friday Iran has never directly backed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, although Kyiv has always maintained positions against Tehran.”
The cleric who was previously in charge of the Shiite mosque in Hamburg, Germany, charged that "Ukraine's government has always supported the demands of arrogant powers," adding that "we abstained from voting to condemn Russia at the United Nations" for its invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Russia's ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan (Jagaryan) told Iranian reporters to use the term "special military operation", rather than the word "war" or “invasion” about the Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Many Iranian intellectuals and reporters called on the foreign ministry to summon the ambassador and tell him that he is in no position to boss around Iranian reporters.
Reformist figure Mostafa Tajzadeh wrote in a tweet: "Iranians still remember the bitter experience of Saddam Hussain's war and his aggression against Iran as a neighboring country. For this, Iranians condemn the military attack" on Ukraine.
Tehran's Friday prayer Imam Kazem Sediqi also said on Friday that Ukraine gave Iranian leaders a hard time when Iran downed a Ukrainian civilian airliner in January 2020. An IRGC unit fired two missiles at the plane taking off from Tehran killing 176 civilian passengers and crew members.
Trying to justify Iranian leaders' support for Russia's invasion, Ramezani said: "We are against war and violence, but the Islamic Republic needs to adopt positions in the international scene based on rationality.”
In the meantime, according to Etemad Online website, Russia's supporters in Iran have been beating on the drums of conflict. Hassan Abbasi, a zealot fundamentalist commentator has once again on Friday called for turning the White House into a mosque, imposing compulsory hijab on American women, and converting westerners into Islam. Abbasi also said that "The war between East and West can have only one winner, and that will be Iran!"
Also on Friday, as nuclear talks between Iran and world powers stopped because of Russian demands, journalists and commentators as well as other social media users blamed Russia and Iranian leaders' support for Moscow for the deadlock.
Political analyst Jamshid Barzegar wrote on Twitter: "As it was predictable, Iranian leaders refused to resist Russia probably because they were unable to do so. The Vienna talks have been stopped without any result not based on Iran's national interests, but because Moscow wanted the talks to collapse. Iran is suffering because of Putin and its own ruling clerics."
Iranian journalist Milad Alavi also wrote: "The Vienna Talks have been suspended and history will witness that a regime whose motto was neither East, nor West, imposed sanctions on its own people for the sake of Russia's interests."
Ironically, Ramezani the cleric who is a member of the Assembly of Experts, told Iranian reporters in an interview on Friday that the negotiations have reached a good point.
The pause in nuclear talks for the time being puts an end to all hopes of a breakthrough that could relieve Iranians from the backbreaking pressure of sanctions. This comes while even Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that because of sanctions on Russia's oil, the US is prepared to give countries including Iran and Venezuela special treatment to make sure that they replace Russia in the oil market.
Some Iranian political figures and analysts had also suggested during the past week that Iran should seize the opportunity to mend its ties with the United States and sell its oil at high prices after several years of sanctions on its oil export and international banking.
