Pakistani Lawmaker Calls Iran Attack A 'Deep State Operation'
Pakistani lawmaker Mushahid Hussain Syed has suggested Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ cross-border airstrikes might have occurred without government knowledge.
Pakistani lawmaker Mushahid Hussain Syed has suggested Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ cross-border airstrikes might have occurred without government knowledge.
Senator Hussain Syed, head of Pakistan's Defense Committee, told Iran International that the attack seemed like a “deep state operation” to save face following a series of recent security breaches, the latest of which was twin blasts on the death anniversary of IRGC-Quds Force former commander Qasem Soleimani in Kerman.
“There were issues of security, and the election is coming up in Iran. I think this was an Iranian deep state operation,” he said, explaining that “Iran has multiple centers of power.”
Hussain noted that Iran's Quds Force, which is in charge of operations overseas, has historically played a dominant role in Iran's foreign policy, particularly in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, pointing the finger at the body which also manages Iran's regional proxies. “A lot of foreign policy initiatives are not decided by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs or even by the president perhaps,” he said. “It was their own operation.”
However, it is unlikely that such an operation was not given the green light by the country's Supreme Leader who has the ultimate control of Iran's proxies abroad. “I don't think the Iranian Foreign Minister knew about it, because two hours before the operation he had a very cordial and pleasant meeting with our prime minister in Davos,” he said, suggesting that the operation was kept to a closed circle.
"It was an Iranian deep state operation by their Revolutionary Guards, who operate as a state within a state, and they are very powerful,” he underlined, saying that “Qasem Soleimani was the most powerful man in Iran after the Supreme Leader.” Countries such as the UK have called Iran its number one threat after tens of attacks on its soil have been foiled, coordinated by Iran's Quds Forces and Ministry of Intelligence.
Hussain also noted the timing of Iran's attack on its neighbor, amid heightening regional tensions. He suggested that Iran flexing its military might could be Iran's desire to send a message to Israel, the US and the West that “if you want to attack us, bomb us, we are ready for a military strike.”
He said, “I think it was pressure on Iran after the al-Aqsa Flood operation,” referring to Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7 that was the onset of the escalating Middle East conflict.
By attacking targets in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria within 24 hours, Iran wanted to send a message to the West that it has “the capability, the willingness and the intention” to act militarily if the need arises while its proxies wreak havoc across the region, including Yemen's Houthis blockading the Red Sea. Iran continues to deny its involvement in any of its proxies missions from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran misjudged the response from Pakistan and Iraq which, following the attacks, both not only recalled ambassadors but lodged legal action at the UN Security Council. Iran also did not account for Pakistan’s retaliatory airstrikes.
Through what Hussain called "stupid action", "Iran has brought Iraq back into the American lap ... lost the goodwill in Pakistan and the region... and also showed that Iran’s military power has its limits.”
Javad Heravi, the spokesman for the Moderation and Development Party, closely associated with Former President Hassan Rouhani and Former Vice President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, announced on Monday that very few candidates have been approved to run. Other likeminded parties also do not have enough approved candidates to form a coalition with them.
In Heravi's words, "Practically, we are not players any longer," indicating that one of the most significant moderate parties in Iran will not participate in the elections. He added, "We are not to be blamed if we do not have a list of candidates for the election."
Iran's elections are not free from the start, with stringent vetting processes conducted by the interior ministry and the Guardian Council. This process has become increasingly political since 2020, resulting in the rejection of most non-hardliner candidates. As a result, hardliners, who are loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, dominate the elections.
This situation effectively means that hardliners have already predetermined who can run and win in the elections, as nearly all ultraconservative candidates have passed the Guardian Council's scrutiny.
The party also criticized Iran's foreign policy, citing recent missile attacks on neighboring countries and stating that it has left voters concerned about the upcoming elections. Additionally, Iran’s 50-percent annual inflation rate and economic crisis have added to people's anxieties in the weeks leading up to the election.
Heravi explained that the Majles (parliament) cannot bring about positive change without elected lawmakers, and this can only happen with a high-turnout election. The party currently has 40 candidates remaining after the vetting process, but it will not release a candidate list unless it can field enough candidates for all constituencies in the country.
Furthermore, the party's spokesman noted that state television and the government appear to treat the elections as a competition among conservatives, and many former lawmakers, including those close to former Majles Speaker Ali Larijani, have been disqualified by the Guardian Council. Heravi emphasized, "Party members and others cannot expect anything from us while we have not been given a chance to compete."
Media reports indicate, the Guardian Council has not yet finalized the vetting results for 26 current members of the parliament and dozens of former lawmakers who have contested their disqualifications.
A former senior lawmaker, who has been disqualified by the Guardian Council, is Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the former head of the Iranian parliament and commentator who regularly writes about Iran's foreign policy with a critical view.
Meanwhile, Hadi Tahan Nazif, the spokesman for the Guardian Council has said that 12,033 candidates have been approved to run in the upcoming election. He confirmed that 26 incumbent MPs, as well as tens of former lawmakers, have been rejected. However, he added that the Guardian Council will soon release one more list of qualified candidates.
In the face of public reluctance to vote and the lack of popular support for participating in the election, the government has mobilized clerics and young seminarians to encourage voter turnout. Seminary students have formed a group called "Forty Days of Advice" to motivate people in the 40 days leading up to the election. However, clerics do not enjoy significant popularity in Iranian society, which poses a challenge to this propaganda effort.
A cleric, Jalal Razavi Mehr, the head of the Association of Qom Seminary Students has said that voting in the election is as important as honoring the chastity of one's wife and daughters.