The summary from State outlet Press TV about the Tehran Friday Prayer from Ayatollah Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, was brief but telling:

The cleric regretted the twist in the fate of the country’s 2011 revolution that toppled the Western-backed dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

“The situation in Egypt is unpleasant….We had hoped that the revolution would yield fruit and an Islamic, anti-US revolutionary government would take office…but it all went wrong,” Ayatollah Jannati stated.

In those sentences, Jannati effectively admitted the failure of one of the regime’s key ideological and political missions in the Middle East.

Soon after the overthrow of the Mubarak regime in February 2011, the Supreme Leader declared that Iran’s “Islamic Awakening” — embodied in the 1979 Islamic Revolution — had inspired Egypt and the Arab world. Tehran specifically supported the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as an ally who would use the Awakening as a model for the country.

It never happened, at least to Iran’s liking. While the Brotherhood was the key force behind the Morsi Government, recently overthrown by the military, there was no sign of an Islamic State on Iranian lines.

Perhaps more importantly, Cairo did not buttress Tehran’s regional position. In a telling moment in August 2012, Morsi humiliated Iran, which was hosting the Non-Aligned Summit, by telling the Tehran audience that the Syrian regime — backed strongly by the Islamic Republic — was to blame for the bloodshed since March 2011.

So what does Iran do now? Its initial response to Morsi’s fall was uncertain, caught between defending the Brotherhood and attacking Egyptian military or blaming the President for events.

Jannati’s Friday Prayer appears to have chosen the latter line. And it put out an intriguing signal about Tehran’s new approach:

This pro-Israeli policy resulted in the emergence of Tamarod opposition movement, which now enjoys the support of the majority of the Egyptian population.

Tamarod, which led calls in June for mass protests against Morsi, is not an “Islamic” movement. Indeed, it is not marked by a specific political or religious ideology or a defined set of policies.

So does Iran really think it can use Tamarod for a renewed “Awakening” to the regime’s liking?

(Featured Photo: Former Egyptian President Morsi and Iranian President Ahmadinejad, August 2012)


Sunni Insurgent Group Claims Iran Military Operation Against Them In Sistan-Baluchistan

Sistan-Baluchistan based Sunni insurgent group Harakat Ansar Iran (HAI) claimed on Twitter on Saturday that Iranian forces continued to carry out an operation against their fighters.

HAI claimed earlier this month and again on Friday that the Iranian military had deployed ground troops and helicopters in an operation against the Sunni insurgent group in the mountains of Sistan-Baluchistan.

HAI has threatened — at least via its English and Arabic-language spokespeople on social media, who carry out public relations and publicity for the group — to retaliate should Iran attack their fighters.