Iranian Views on the Awakening, the Crisis in Europe, and the Future of the United States in the Middle East

Abstract

Many Iranian analysts believe that since the Iranian Revolution much of western attitudes and policy towards the Islamic Republic have been irrational, aggressive, and founded upon a mythological construction. It is also widely believed that over the past few years this hostility has intensified to a point where western actions against the Iranian economy can be interpreted as acts of war. The uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa have so far served to intensify this hostility, as the crisis-hit West fears its hegemony over this strategic part of the world is on the decline. In line with Iranian predictions, Islamic groups critical of the United States and its western allies are on the rise across the board. However, as western powers construct their regional policies through an anti-Iranian lens, they have largely ignored the extensive funding of groups ideologically similar to Al Qaeda and the Taleban by the Arab regimes in the Persian Gulf. The increasingly unstable oil rich Arab dictatorships are waging a counter-Revolution by funding extremists in order to prevent the winds of change from sweeping them from power. However, it is widely believed that this is leading to increasing instability throughout the region and beyond.