Commander of the IRGC: Future Waves of the Islamic Revolution Will Hopefully Overthrow Saudi Arabia

The Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) referred to the Saudi government, stating that "the first wave of the Islamic Revolution led to the collapse of communism, and future waves will hopefully lead to the downfall of the House of Saud." Mohammad Ali Jafari also urged the "officials of the Islamic Republic" to set aside their previous "caution" regarding Saudi Arabia, in light of the military intervention by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. According to Fars News Agency, on Tuesday, April 7, Jafari called Saudi Arabia a "traitor" and claimed that the country has "exactly followed in the footsteps of Israel," and shamelessly bombards and massacres a nation that seeks to reject the system of dominance. He stated that our officials had previously refrained from speaking out about Saudi Arabia due to "considerations of the Islamic Republic," adding, "Now that these attacks have occurred, these considerations must be broken. Today, the House of Saud is on the verge of collapse and downfall." The Saudi-led regional coalition resumed its airstrikes against Houthi rebels in central and southern Yemen on Wednesday, April 2, just one day after announcing the end of those operations. The Shiite Houthi rebels overthrew the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the internationally recognized president of Yemen, last year by storming into Sanaa. Hadi fled to the southern city of Aden in February and later sought refuge in Saudi Arabia as the rebels advanced. Iranian officials, who are themselves accused of supporting the Houthis, have repeatedly protested Saudi military intervention in Yemen and predicted that Saudi actions would fail. Meanwhile, reports indicate that on April 3, Saudi Arabia denied a military threat to an Iranian airplane landing permission at Sanaa airport, forcing the plane to land in Bandar Abbas. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, stated on Sunday that Saudi Arabia's actions in the "blockade of Yemen" and what he described as "preventing humanitarian aid" would not go unanswered. Some analysts have previously characterized the battles in Yemen as a form of sectarian proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In this context, former U.S. President Barack Obama stated on Thursday, February 19, 2015, that "the Shiite-Sunni war will end when governments resolve their differences through dialogue, not through proxy wars." Although Obama did not name the countries involved, Agence France-Presse noted that Saudi Arabia and Iran are accused of trying to increase their influence in the region by supporting rival groups in Middle Eastern countries. "The goal of the Islamic Revolution is to create an Islamic civilization," the IRGC commander said in another part of his remarks on Tuesday. He emphasized that "the Islamic Revolution is not limited to domestic arenas; being religious and remaining so, independence from East and West, and being transnational are expectations of the leadership." He added, "Currently, we are far from this goal." Meanwhile, Ali Shadmani, the Deputy Operations Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, stated on Saturday, April 5, that the Supreme Leader has entrusted the management of the "Resistance Front" to the IRGC. The Islamic Republic of Iran refers to the Syrian government and groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and other Palestinian factions opposing Middle East peace as forming the "Resistance Front" against Israel. These statements from IRGC commanders come at a time when several countries have expressed concern over Iran's growing influence in the region. Among them, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Iran on Thursday, March 26, of trying to dominate the Middle East, stating that this action by the Islamic Republic has "exasperated" Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Arab states.