Meet the newest peacemakers within the chaos churning in the heartbeat of the planet: ISIS and Iran.
Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Israel are all facing the threat of annihilation by these brazen and crazy terrorists. But the leaders of these nations must now learn to set aside their differences and unite to work together in order to eliminate the deadly threat that faces them all.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi appears to have already figured it out, perhaps long ago. It was el-Sisi who openly appeared before the Council of Imams and appealed for words of moderation to go forth from Al Ahram, the oldest seat of Islamic learning in the Muslim world. It was also el-Sisi who launched an full-scale war against terror in the Sinai Peninsula, and who openly requested Israel’s cooperation in waging that war together against fighters backed by Iran and ISIS.
Ironically, the United States hasn’t gotten that far in its understanding yet. The White House is leading its European allies in making nice with the Islamic Republic of Iran, still hoping to appease the Supreme Leader with concessions and cutting-edge nuclear equipment in exchange for a decade of relief from the country’s race towards nuclear weapons of mass destruction. It’s a silly fantasy; Iranian duplicity as far back as a few months into the talks has already been revealed. But Israel’s warnings have been ignored and it seems, at least so far, the Western world may have to learn the hard way. Hopefully, the nations of the Middle East will learn from that mistake and unite instead to fight the threat on their own.
It is not wise to hope that ecumenical differences between Iran and ISIS will prompt the two to destroy each other. They’re not going to: in fact, the two have already united to fight a common enemy in the Sinai Peninsula this past week.
Iran is a nation of Shiite Muslims. ISIS proclaims its commitment to establishing a worldwide caliphate on the basis of Salafi jihadist Islam. But although the two schools of Islamic thought are incompatible, their common enemies bring them together in the cause of “jihad” (holy war.)
The only question which then arises is the issue of who will be the boss.
Iran is the region’s Number One financial sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East, surrounding Israel on three borders. The Islamic Republic provides generous funding, equipment and training to the following nations and terrorist organizations via its elite Revolutionary Guard Corps:
- Lebanon (Israel’s northwestern border)
- Syria (Israel’s northeastern border)
- Iraq
- Yemen
- Houthi Tribe
- Hezbollah (Lebanon)
- Hamas (Israel’s southern border in Gaza and Sinai, and also within Judea and Samaria)
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad (in Gaza, Sinai, Judea and Samaria.)
Iran has strengthened its bonds over the past several years with Turkey, a former ally of Israel once known as a “moderate” Islamic country, but which now is a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood outlawed in Egypt. It has also become better friends with Russia, which is helping Tehran build several nuclear reactors, and North Korea, which is also providing nuclear technology.
In addition, oil-rich Iran has tightened its ties with a number of South American nations, including Venezuela which holds the largest oil reserves in the Western hemisphere, and Brazil.
Until ISIS (Da’esh in Arabic) came along, Iran was the wealthiest sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East. But that may be changing.
ISIS has also acquired ‘black gold’ through its conquests in Iraq and Syria. Like the Mongol hordes, the ranks of this terrorist entity are rapidly spreading over a vast area worldwide.