Britannia Radio

Special Dispatch | 2903, 2904 | April 12, 2010 Iran/Inter-Arab Relations

Special Dispatch No. 2903 Egyptian Foreign Minister: Iran Is Holding the Region Hostage In an interview with the London daily Al-Hayat, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit leveled harsh criticism against Iran, accusing it of holding the Middle East hostage. He also criticized the Arabs who support Iran, especially Syria and Hamas, for allowing Iran to intervene in their affairs, and rejected criticism of Egypt by Iran and its supporters. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4094.htm. Special Dispatch No. 2904 Ahwazi Organization: Iran Is Threatening Gulf States with SSMs Armed with Chemical Warheads On March 3, 2010, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa published a report by an anti-Iran Ahwazi group called The Islamic Sunni-Ahwazi Organization, which said that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had armed its Russian SS4 surface-to-surface (SSM) missiles with chemical warheads. According to the report, the chemicals in the warheads are mustard, sarin, and cyanide gas; the missiles have a range of 2,000 km and are aimed at the Gulf countries and other Arab countries. It also stated that the IRGC has stepped up biological weapons research at the Damghan laboratories. The Ahwazi group also claimed in the report that Iran has a military project called Al-Mahdaviya under which Iran would occupy Iraq as well as Jordan by advancing along five axes. The main points of the plan include the use of the Arab Ahwaz district as a forward operating base and jumping-off point for the occupation; the plan also has intelligence, economic, and cultural/propaganda aspects. The organization stated in the report that Iran is planning to uproot millions of the Arab residents of western Ahwaz so that it can secure the border with Iraq, and defend its oil and gas fields in the region. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4095.htm.