In an address to a national seminar on “Big Powers and Regional Security of West Asia”, General Baqeri elaborated on the Zionist regime’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and said during its short lifetime, the occupying regime of Israel has adopted the policy of oppression, abuse and child-killing.
“Now with the US move on Jerusalem al-Quds, a new and big uprising is imminent,” he warned, according to a Farsi report by ISNA on Monday.
US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds on December 6 has sparked protests in different cities across the region and the whole world. In the latest case, a protest rally in Beirut outside the US embassy turned violent with injures and arrests reported.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high in the Palestinian territories with sporadic protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip continuing. Earlier, the Fatah Movement called on the Palestinians to continue their protests against US decision.
West Asia, New Heartland of World: Iranian Commander
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian general said that the West Asia has turned into a new heartland of the world given its history and resources.
General Baqeri referred to the developments of the Middle East during the past decades, and said, “The emergence of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in the 1980s, the collapse of the Soviet Union in early 1990s, and the political fallouts of the 9/11 attack, all in all, have turned West Asia into the Heartland of the world.”
“The region hosts 70 percent of fossil reserves of the world, an energy which is the main industrial engine of today’s world. So, such geostrategic regions as Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, Hormuz Strait, Dardanelles Strait and the trio Iranian islands (Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa) are of great importance,” he added.
The major general also said given the rich resources of the region, the world powers have been hardly competing to impose their hegemony on the region and take advantages of them.
