US withdrawal from Iraq heralds major global changes
Speaking during this week\s Friday Prayers sermon in the Iranian capital of Tehran, Hojatoleslam Seyed Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard said the world is on the verge of fundamental changes, arguing that recent developments at the UN General Assembly reflected what he described as the decline of the West’s political influence and the waning of U.S. hegemony.
Aboutorabi-Fard said today’s world was witnessing fundamental developments and that the voices of dissatisfaction among nations and governments were being heard louder than ever.
Referring to developments at the UN General Assembly, he cited the departure of 77 delegations during the speech by the Israeli prime minister as evidence of what he described as the changing global political landscape.
Aboutorabi-Fard also pointed to the growing political awakening among people worldwide, the Islamic world’s return to its religious and moral identity, the growing strength of the resistance front, and what he described as major victories by Islamic resistance forces against the United States, Israel and Western-aligned powers.
He said these developments indicated shifts in political and economic power at the beginning of the third millennium, adding that the decline of the West would pave the way for an end to unilateralism in the world.
Aboutorabi-Fard referred to the U.S. and Western military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying both campaigns had been launched with the stated objective of changing the Middle East’s map in favor of Israel and the United States.
He said Afghanistan had remained under U.S. and allied occupation from 2001 to 2021, while Iraq had been invaded in 2003 by U.S. armored and mechanized forces with Western support.
Aboutorabi-Fard said the peoples of the region and the world have witnessed the consequences of “American democracy” for the region, including the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslim men, women and children in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Aboutorabi-Fard said the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq had marked the beginning of what he described as a period of greater independence and standing for the Iraqi people and government, while the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan had similarly marked the beginning of what he called greater dignity and strength for the Afghan people.
The Tehran Friday prayer leader said the U.S.-led system of global power had pursued dominance and warfare under the banner of democracy, freedom and human rights since the beginning of the 19th century.
Aboutorabi-Fard also said the United States had supported authoritarian governments for nearly two centuries and noted that Israel currently received the largest share of U.S. military assistance.
Referring to Iran and the broader resistance front, Aboutorabi-Fard said the resistance of Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Palestine, Yemen and other parts of the Muslim world marks the beginning of the end of the U.S. presence in the region.
Aboutorabi-Fard said the United States and its allies had learned this lesson from the Iranian people, as well as from Iran’s police forces, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Army.
MNA