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By : Mohammed Al Shaikh

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:: It seems that Iran’s top cleric and supreme leader Ali Khamenei has decided to submit to the decisions of the three summits held recently in Riyadh, and he allowed Hassan Rouhani, whom the Iranians describe as moderate, to win a second presidential term, thus ending the chances of hardliner cleric Ibrahim Raisi.

According to news reports, Raisi was the guardian of the jurist’s favorite candidate. Khamenei decided to submit to the summits’ decisions after he objectively analyzed them as he knows well that Iran cannot confront these pressures led by America, the strongest country in the world.

Iran’s top cleric also knows well that without Russia he is a paper tiger. Syria’s rebels humiliated him and almost defeated him although they were mere groups, mainly armed with light weapons. If it had not been for the Russian air force intervention, Khamenei and the mercenaries he brought into Syria from across the world would not have withstood the fight. Russia’s support is therefore necessary for this exhausted army that does not possess a single jet or air defense systems. Khamenei’s propaganda was thus a storm in a teacup.

Khamenei’s retreat and abandonment of his candidate means that the Iranians have opted for truce – tactically – and perhaps opted for giving up the gains they made during Barack Obama’s terms.

Iran may even give up some of what it has gained in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen if it senses how serious the new alliance is about clipping its wings.

Speaking on the military and economic levels, Iran cannot confront the consequences of this new alliance.

Fragile demographics

The Iranian demographics is also fragile and weak as a result of the diversity of religions, sects and ethnicities. If the new alliance strongly and persistently targets the Iranian street, it will certainly divide.

There is also a lot of injustice in Iran as well as lack of services and developmental projects. This means that the majority of the Iranians wait for any opportunity to speak out against this injustice.

One of the top priorities of the guardian of the jurists’ government is to spread the Jaafari sect. In order to achieve this ideological aim, it generously spent money to expand. However, it forgot about its own people and this led to poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment

Mohammed Al Shaikh

One of the top priorities of the guardian of the jurists’ government is to spread the Jaafari sect. In order to achieve this ideological aim, it generously spent money to expand. However, it forgot about its own people and this led to poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment. This problem created a snowball effect that worsened with time. I think the Iranian street is ready to destroy its stability if the government goes far in its costly expansion, aggression and interferences in the affairs of other countries.

Before I conclude my article, I must give credit to the man who engineered this visit which resulted in all these magnificent economic, political and development achievements. He is Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who truly proved that he is the best representative of Abdulaziz’s young grandsons in terms of awareness, vitality and perseverance.

His father’s trust in him when he assigned him deputy crown prince was right. Assigning him the deputy crown prince was a very wise move that is not only based on the sentiment of a father towards his son. Mohammed bin Salman is truly the best man to bear the responsibility of safeguarding and protecting the state.

Those who know King Salman well know that emotions have not affected his decisions since he was governor of Riyadh, so let alone when he’s become the leader of the country.

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Mohammed Al Shaikh is a Saudi writer with al-Jazirah newspaper. He tweets @alshaikhmhmd.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in the Column section are their own and do not reflect RiyadhVision’s point-of-view.

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