Latest news with #Shiism
Wall Street Journal
a day ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Iran's Mediocre Supreme Leader
Where does Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stand in religious terms? The last time a front-page 'austere religious scholar' in the world of Iranian influence was eliminated, it was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019. A Sunni and a comparatively minor figure, Baghdadi wasn't canonically incorrect on the laws of seventh-century Medina, but global fallout from his liquidation was nil. When Mr. Khamenei's predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, landed in Tehran from Paris in February 1979, the shah had already been in exile for 16 days. In March 1980, to mark the Iranian New Year, Radio Tehran broadcast a speech in which he outlined his governing vision. The army, police and gendarmerie should undergo 'fundamental reorganization' until they saw themselves as 'belonging to Islam.' By that he meant Iran's distinctive Shia Islam. With numerous branches, Shiism is the religion of roughly 10% of Muslims worldwide. Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Iraq also have Shiite majorities. The religion of the other 90% is Sunnism, the original Arab version of the faith. Shiism developed after Mohammed's new creed of the seventh century encountered the incomparably deep and sophisticated civilization of Persia, following a lengthy, bloody conquest. Reflecting profoundly contrary cultures, the theological differences between the two faiths are significant.
Asharq Al-Awsat
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Syrian Security Forces Intensify Operations against Remnants of Ousted Regime
Syrian security forces have intensified their operations against remnants of the ousted regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Reports said they arrested Abdul Karim al-Muhaimid, who was responsible for clan attacks in the eastern Deir Ezzor region. They also arrested his son Ahmed and another suspect, Mohsen al-Ali. On Thursday, the forces arrested the head of an Iran-affiliated faction that fought alongside Assad's troops. Moayad Abdul Samad al-Douaihy founded and led a faction known as the Sayyida Zeinab Brigade, affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The forces had previously arrested Yasser Matroud, a media official working for the National Defense Militias that is loyal to the regime. All of these arrests were made in Deir Ezzor. In the Damascus countryside, the security forces arrested several remnants of the regime, including Bashar Mahfoud, the official in charge of recruiting members of the 25th Division, led by Suheil al-Hassan and Khaled Othman. The security forces also continued to discover weapons and drugs caches in various regions. Sources close to the general security agency in Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat that the security challenges are the greatest threat facing the new government. Acts of revenge and violations continue to be reported across the country. They are threatening civil peace because these crimes are being promoted on social media. Moreover, hundreds of members of the former regime are still armed and at large. Furthermore, dozens of drug smugglers remain, as well as several criminals who were released from prisons the night the regime was toppled and its jails were opened to free people who had been disappeared. The criminals and remnants of the regime are sowing chaos after their sources of income came to a stop with the collapse of the regime. Some have started to group up and are carrying out abductions, robberies and promoting drugs. Most dangerous of all is that some of these groups are following a foreign agenda, warned the sources. List of crimes Sources in Deir Ezzor said al-Muhaimid was responsible for stoking clashes between clans and the Syrian Democratic Forces at Iran's behest. Al-Douaihy's Sayyida Zeinab Brigade was disbanded in 2015 on suspicion of corruption. Al-Douaihy converted to Shiism during the war, was affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and suspected to committing several crimes. Mahfoud is accused of war crimes and of forming abduction and robbery gangs after the collapse of the regime. In the Damascus countryside, security forces arrested Mowafaq Hammoud, who is accused of taking a photo as he stands over the corpses of victims of the Assad regime. In Aleppo, security forces arrested a drug smuggler, seizing a cache of some 3 million Captagon pills.
