Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
The events in the Middle East are moving at an incredible pace. One of the key players in the region is the Islamic Republic of Iran.
To better understand some of the issues of the region, Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed the political analyst, Dr. Javad Masoomi.
#1. Steven Sahiounie SS: The distribution of power in the world today seems to be undergoing significant changes. In your opinion, what is the role of the Islamic Republic in these changes?
Javad Masoomi (JM): In recent years, the supreme leader of the revolution has emphasized the changes in the world order in the coming years. According to him, which is also emphasized by Western international relations analysts and experts, changes are taking place in the international arena that will change the distribution of power in the world, that is, the security order and power structure in the world. That is, the world is no longer seen as a unipolar one with the superiority of the United States and is moving towards a multifocal order. In this case, each of the regions of the world will have one or more main centers of power that will influence the main developments in that region and the arrangements and relations of that region. In this regard, no region of the world is excluded and its developments are in line with changes in the security and political order.History narrates that with the fall of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, the security order of the region was not designed, determined and regulated by regional actors but by foreign superpowers. In the early years after the end of the First World War, with the “Sykes-Picot” treaty, England and France, as regional regulators in West Asia, regulated the order of the region and its relations. The birth of the fake Zionist government is related to the years when England and France were the regulators of order in the West Asian region. With the end of the Second World War and the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as the two poles of the world, the West Asian region was divided between these two superpowers, like other parts of the world, and as a result, the security order was adjusted according to the wishes of the Soviet Union and the United States. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the West Asian region became the playground of the United States of America, which affected a large part of its relations; but in recent years, there have been changes in the region that have turned the region into the playground of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
#2. SS: President Trump attempted in the past to normalize relations between the Arab countries in the Middle East and Israel. How do you see that plan, and was it successful?
JM: During the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States realized the fact that the region is on the verge of accepting Iran as a major power. As a result, with the “Ibrahim Peace” plan, he moved in the direction of standing against Iran’s supremacy in the region by uniting the Arabs and the Zionist regime. This was supposed to be completed with the corridor plan called “IMEC”. This corridor was supposed to connect India to Israel through the Arab countries and in this way make possible the Zionist regime’s dominance over regional relations with the dependence of the Arab countries on the Zionist economy. This plan failed.#3. SS: The resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria has been a strong force for decades. Since October 7, the ‘axis of resistance’ has become a major player in the region, and has captured world attention. In your opinion, how do you see the role of Iran?JM: After the proud operation of Al-Aqsa Storm and the strategic failure of the usurper Israel, the Zionist regime is planning to complete the work of Hezbollah and Hamas in this war. But what is the reason for this? It all seems to come back to conflicts over the security order. Important players in the regions are trying to redesign the security order according to their wishes; but for the United States and its allies, especially the Zionist regime, one thing cannot be tolerated, and that is the collapse of the old world order and American unilateralism.Earlier, the United States of America made every effort to rule its will in the West Asian region; but against the will of America, for years it has been the axis of resistance as an order maker against the old order and the absolute winner of regional developments. Its examples are in Syria, the attempt of the Western world and the Arab governments to overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s government was met with a heavy failure. On the other hand, in Yemen, Ansarullah is considered one of the most important allies of Iran in the region. Also, in Iraq, Iran’s cooperation led to the formation of popular resistance groups against ISIS and this terrorist group was defeated. In Lebanon, Hezbollah plays the main role in protecting Lebanon against the Zionist regime; so far, all developments in the region have gone according to the will of the United States of America, and basically, the formation of a network called “Axis of Resistance” whose main goal is to confront the unilateralism of the United States is considered a significant defeat for the colonialists. This coherent and coordinated network despite independence; with the strategy of Islamic governance, the grassroots people have accepted the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. So that this type of governance has caused the region to consider Iran as a trans-regional actor and the main center of regional developments for the real realization of human happiness and the fight against oppression and support for the oppressed, which is a vital threat to the interests of the United States and its allies, especially it is considered a Zionist regime.
#4. SS: Israel assassinated the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut. Despite his martyrdom, Hezbollah continues their resistance against Israel, and in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza. How do you view events in the region after Nasrallah was martyred?
JM: Some excited supporters of the Zionists interpret the current situation in the region with the idea of the usurper Israel winning to change the balance of power in West Asia, and the fact that the Zionist regime is looking for a new order in the region is clearly seen in the speech of the leaders of this apartheid regime. In this regard, Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the new order in the new Middle East and described the assassination of Sayed Hassan Nasrallah as the balance of power in West Asia. Of course, it is not the first time that the leaders of the Zionist regime and the United States promise a new order in the West Asian region. In 1982, Ariel Sharon, the then defense minister of this regime, envisioned a new order in the Middle East. “Shimon Peres” and “Tom Friedman” also promised a “new Middle East” after the Oslo agreement in 1993. At the beginning of the new century, the Bush administration also believed that a new order was coming, in which a democratic and pro-American Middle East would emerge; But none of these promises came true, and in this context, the “National Interest” magazine, in predicting the future of Netanyahu’s dream to establish a new order in the region, wrote: “There is certainly nothing wrong with dreaming the impossible dream or at least waiting for better days. The problem is that sometimes political leaders take their imaginations too seriously; as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In the continuation of its report entitled “There will be no new Middle East”, this media emphasized: Israel is definitely not in a position to defeat Iran.
#5. SS: The next BRICS summit will take place in Kazan, Russia from October 22–24, 2024. The summit will be the first to take place after the expansion of the BRICS group to 10 countries. The new members are Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In your opinion, what changes may come out of this meeting?
JM: It should be noted that the hegemony in the western world, led by America, does not accept this change without resistance and plans and implements its efforts to delay it by creating instability in different regions of the world and even shows unpredictable behavior, however, the change of the old order, it is inevitable, although the exact time of this change cannot be predicted. Of course, there are signs of the new order, such as the economic growth statistics of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, which indicate the inevitable change of the old world order. The BRICS philosophy is a gathering of the world’s emerging economies, and at the same time, the growth rate of economies such as China, India, Brazil, and South Africa is significantly higher compared to the growth of the current dominant economies in the West. More importantly, China’s average annual growth in the next 10 years is about 5%, while America’s average growth is about 1.5%, so in the next decade, China will become 3.5% bigger than America every year, and by 2035, it will be one of the top 10 economies in the world. At least five economies will be located in the Asia region.As mentioned, the creators and promoters of the idea of a new order in the world were some Western politicians and strategists, especially in the United States of America.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
