IRGC Claims US Influence Weakening

Iran’s IRGC Quds Force Commander claims a power shift from the West to Asia has been a result of US failings, in turn, empowering Iran.

Esmail Ghaani (Qaani) made the comments on Wednesday claiming Iran’s Islamic revolution has been the most effective factor shaping the shifting power balance.

Today, the Islamic Republic is among the most pivotal elements in the region, he claimed. Citing the example of Iraq, where Iran’s IRGC created large militia forces in the mid-2010s to fight against the Islamic State group and exert the regime's influence in Iraqi politics, he explained how Iran has increasingly wielded a hand behind the scenes - much to the chagrin of the Iraqi people.

Iran facing economic isolation from the West and a series of domestic crises, chief among them a lack of oil revenues due to US sanctions and popular opposition, resorts to highlighting the role of Russia and China and its relations with the two powers.

Ghaani also pointed out the growing influence of China, which has begun to step into roles once dominated by the US, not least, in the Middle East. “Let us find our place in this changing of power structure," he said. "Good steps have been taken, but we need to figure out when to get on the power transfer train.”

The perceived lessening of US activity in the region as the Biden administration continues to retreat from Middle Eastern affairs was hailed, Ghaani asserted the regime's resistance to a country it brands its 'enemy'.

“The problem is that we want to tread our own path, but the US wants to put us on a path that it defines itself. The art of the Islamic revolution is to recognize its own path and move in this direction,” added Ghaani.