Tehran, April 26: An Iranian official has warned Middle Eastern governments against relying on Western countries as they change their policies and drop support for autocratic regimes in pursuit of their own interests.
Governments in the Middle East and North Africa need to start heeding the people’s demands and managing issues with prudence and insight, and taking into account their people’s role in developments, the director general of the Persian Gulf and Middle East Affairs Department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, told IRNA on Monday.
He described the nature of the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa as Islamic and noted, “What we’re witnessing in the region has been inspired by the Islamic awakening.”
Abdollahian said that despite the West’s collusion with some Arab rulers, with the goal of derailing or hijacking the popular movements, the people have played a decisive role in determining the destiny of the revolts.
On the massacre of anti-government protesters in Bahrain, the Iranian Foreign Ministry official noted that, with a green light from the US, foreign forces have tried to quell the Bahrainis’ protests but failed due to the “people’s awareness and the Islamic leaders’” insight.
A wave of anti-government demonstrations has swept across the Middle East/North Africa region over the past few months.
The Islamic awakening began in Tunisia in December 2010, with President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali being forced to step down on January 14, 2011.
Then the Egyptians launched a revolution against the pro-Israeli regime in January, which eventually brought an end to the 30-year dictatorship of former President Hosni Mubarak.
Demonstrations have also been held in the Yemeni capital Sana’a as well as the cities of Aden and Taizz, with protesters demanding that the president step down after nearly 33 years in power and calling for corruption and unemployment to be tackled.
In Libya, revolutionaries have been fighting to depose Muammar Gaddafi since the middle of February.
And in Bahrain, the people have been holding anti-government protests since February 14, demanding constitutional reforms and an end to the Al Khalifa monarchy.
——-Agencies