Sputnik - A US National Security Council (NSC) source has confirmed to Sputnik that Tel Aviv and Washington have worked out a plan to counter "malign Iranian activities." Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Mohammad Marandi, a political analyst and professor at the University of Tehran, explained why the US and Israel are so hostile towards Iran.




Sputnik: What is your take on�the so-called Iranian threat that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are looking to�confront now? What could they be truly trying to�achieve by�demonizing Iran?

Mohammad Marandi:�They have always been demonizing Iran; they have always [harbored] hostility towards�the country. When the Israeli regime occupied Lebanon and the Iranians supported the national liberation movement which ultimately led to�the creation of�Hezbollah, that led to�the ultimate defeat of�the regime and its withdrawal from�the country. And Iran took support for�Palestinian people and Iran's opposition from�the beginning of�the revolution to�apartheid, whether in�apartheid South Africa or in�Palestine. That was also an enormous reason to�show antagonism towards�Iran.

I think more recently, though, Israeli support for�extremist groups in�Syria, this was carried out�alongside countries like�Saudi Arabia. Even now we see that al-Qaeda, the al-Nusra Front, is still [located alongside] the Syrian-Israeli border and the Israeli regime continues to�treat their wounded militants. And on�that part of�the joint border we still have ISIS (Daesh) and as�we all know the Israelis have never attacked the ISIS (Daesh) coalition alongside�its border.

So, the Israelis have been trying to�weaken Syria and I think that over�the last couple of�years with�the help of�Hezbollah, Russia, Iran and others�the gradual defeat of�the extremist groups both in�Syria and Iraq�have led to�a situation where the Israelis feel weakened. But I don't think that any meetings between�the United States and Israel will come up�with anything new because they have been cooperating all along�alongside with�Saudi Arabia for�many years now.

Sputnik: The plan also aims to�target Iran's activities across�the Middle East. So, if implemented, what consequences could it entail for�the region in�local conflicts?

Mohammad Marandi:�Yes, this is again, I think, a very important point because it's contrary to�what we see in�the Western media, which is usually either silence or a very misleading representation. US allies in�the region, alongside�the United States, supported ISIS [Daesh]. Even though, I still speak to�some Americans [and they express] outrage. If you look at�the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)�documents�of�2012 that were partially released by�the Judicial Watch, they speak about�the US allies in�the region supporting the extremist groups in�Syria and [they] have had the upper hand according to�that document, from�almost the very beginning of�the fighting. And these groups were focused on�the border line between�Syria and Iraq.

We know that later on, those groups were named ISIS, or they called themselves even after�that Islamic State. And the United States, according to�General [Michael] Flynn [former DIA director and former national security adviser to�President Trump] who was the head of�that organization [DIA]�� later in�an�interview�with�Al Jazeera he admitted�� that the United States�took a willful decision to�support its allies in�the region. And there is a host of�other evidence as�well, such as�WikiLeaks documents and emails which�stated�that Saudi Arabia and others supported ISIS in�2014. So then, of�course, we have the admission of�former US Secretary of�State [John] Kerry who had a secret meeting with�Syrian opposition activists admitted that the United States allowed ISIS to�advance on�Damascus in�order to�put pressure on�President Assad.

So, the United States is�deeply involved in�allowing ISIS to�rise; they were deeply involved in, of�course, al-Qaeda, the al-Nusra Front, [�] And, of�course, Israel, as�I've pointed out, has been involved in�supporting al-Qaeda and has been silent regarding the presence of�ISIS on�its border. �So, Iran has helped the Syrian government to�defeat extremist groups. Of course, the Russians, Hezbollah, all of�these countries, all of�these groups together [won] this victory over�extremism and if Syria had fallen, without�any doubt Iraq would had fallen.

Iraq was on�the verge of�falling despite�the fact that ISIS had a large number of�troops fighting the Syrian government. If they had defeated the Syrian government, they would have sent a lot more troops into�Iraq and it would have fallen. And of�course Lebanon would have faced a very new and dangerous situation with�these extremists. So Iran's support for�the Iraqi government and the Syrian government helped defeat these extremist groups and this is a major point of�contention between�Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia and, of�course, the United States. [�]