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Supporting Russia’s political line on Syria, Iran’s media is headlining allegations of Turkish involvement with the Islamic State, including the trade in oil.
Since Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane on Tuesday, Moscow’s officials — including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — have escalated charges of Ankara’s collusion with ISIS, hoping to split the US and European states from the Turks.
See Syria Daily, Nov 28: Russia and Turkey Throw Political Jabs at Each Other
Fars News, the outlet of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, leads the campaign this morning, claiming the shootdown of the Russian Su-24 is part of a plan to establish a “safe zone” both for Syrian rebels — labelled as “‘moderate’ head-choppers” by Fars — and for the trade with ISIS:
[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan –– a key financial benefactor — needs Northern Syria for Turkish commodity dealers who fund ISIL through their purchase of, by one estimate, $50 million a month in black-market oil.
In its blunt attempt to split others from Turkey, Fars concludes:
If there’s any side of the war the international community should be joining, it’s not with the US-led coalition. It’s with Russia, Iran, and Syria. As we speak, they are busy obliterating the drug-taking hedonists of ISIL and oil tanker trucks completely and utterly.
Fars goes even further than the Russians in its campaign. While Moscow — using the Syrian Foreign Minister — only said that Erdoğan’s son Bilal may be involved in trading for the Islamic State’s oil, the Iranian outlet converts this into a certainty:
“The cooperation between Balal [sic] Erdogan and the ISIL in Syria and Iraq crude sales is the main reason why Turkey shot down Russia’s warplane,” the Russian-language Trud newspaper quoted political analysts as saying.
Tehran Friday Prayer: “Be Careful Who You Vote For”
The Tehran Friday Prayer has cautioned Iranians to be careful for whom they vote in next February’s Parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections.
After repeating the Supreme Leader’s warnings about foreign “infiltration” of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani said “authorities and officials should be watchful”. The cleric then advised the audience that they should “study the history of candidates and vote for the best possible choice”.
The Iranian regime has been beset by in-fighting as the elections approach. Hardliners have attacked former President Hashemi Rafsanjani — who is likely to try and regain his leadership of the Assembly of Experts — out of concern that he will join President Rouhani, other “moderates”, and possibly reformists in a bloc for the ballot. Conservative politicians and clerics have warned that they need to organize to check the prospect of a Rafsanjani-Rouhani coalition gaining control of Parliament and the Assembly.
See Iran Analysis: Rouhani-Rafsanjani Bloc Steps Up Its Political Challenge, Ahead of 2016 Elections
The pre-election tension has fed a rising dispute between the hardliners, particularly the Revolutionary Guards, and the Rouhani Government over political and social issues. The Guards have detained journalists, businessmen, and activists and warned the Government that is appeasing a “fourth sedition”. Rouhani has responded by criticizing hardline media for its support of the crackdown.
