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Brussels, Jul. 10 – A news agency run by the office of Iran’s Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed that Israel was “using the mask of
Al-Qaeda and [Abu Musab] Zarqawi to hunt down diplomats based in Iraq” and
that “the London bombings were also part of the mischief by Israel”.
“Israel is now in control of religious extremists, particularly the Wahabis
and the Salafis, in Arabia and North Africa”, it claimed.
Fars News Agency used as its source “a senior Iraqi security official
who requested anonymity” to claim that “the role of Israel in terrorist
attacks and sabotage in Iraq is becoming clearer by the day”.
“The Israelis infiltrated the Iraqi government at the time of Iyad Allawi’s
premiership, using [ex-Defence Minister] Hazem Shaalan and [ex-Interior Minister]
Fallah Naqib as their agents”, the news agency quoted the unnamed source
as saying. “They placed Baathist elements, particularly unknown officers
of Iraq’s Military Intelligence, in sensitive security, intelligence and
financial positions”.
The Iranian news agency’s source claimed that Israel was intercepting
communications between Iraqi officials, police, military and intelligence agencies.
“Israel is staging the biggest terrorist attacks in Iraq. They are even
disrupting the economy and attacking infrastructural systems such as water and
electricity to create insecurity, cause widespread discontent and bring to power
an anti-Shiite government”.
“Israeli-led teams in Baghdad carried out the assassination of some of
the foreign envoys in Baghdad and the murder of the Egyptian ambassador”,
the news agency quoted its source as saying.
Observers note that Iran has stepped up its anti-Israeli propaganda since the
election of the ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The state-run media
have been reviving the story of four Iranians in Lebanon, who have been missing
since the 1980s, accusing Israel of kidnapping them.
“This is Tehran’s reaction to what they are describing as a ‘massive
Zionist propaganda campaign’ to discredit Ahmadinejad”, said Hassan
Ilhami, a media consultant who regularly monitors broadcasts from the Middle
East.
“With such wayward claims, they are also deflecting attention from their
own clandestine activities in Iraq”, he said.
“They are also blaming the Israelis for the London bombings, because
they know that they, as the sole remaining active state sponsor of terrorism
with extensive connections to Islamic fundamentalists worldwide, are on the
hot seat right now”, the analyst added.
