Is al-Zarqawi in Tehran?

During the military assault on al-Qaem city in northwestern Iraq near the Iraq-Syria border three weeks ago, al-Zarqawi was seriously injured and later reported dead according to some rumors.

At the same time, it was announced that the criminal terrorist, who is the Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, was sent to a hospital in Ramadi, where he had received primary medical treatment.

The Al-Qaeda terrorist network later issued a statement saying that al-Zarqawi had been injured, but some three days later claimed that the leader of Arab terrorists in Iraq was quite well and personally conducting terrorist missions.

However, without referring to any source, the Sunday Times reported al-Zarqawi’s injury, claiming that he was hospitalized in Tehran for medical treatment.

Immediately after the report was issued, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi denied the claim at his weekly press briefing, but both the European and Arab media continued their propaganda maneuvers about the alleged presence of the Jordanian-born terrorist in Iran.

Although there is no need to refute such an obviously false report, some points must be considered.

First of all, the Arab terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has been directly involved in the assassination of a number of distinguished Shia political and religious figures, including Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, the former chairman of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and Ezzedin Salim, the former chairman of Iraq’s Interim Governing Council.          

This Arab criminal has also been responsible for dozens of car bombings in Shia neighborhoods in Iraq which have killed hundreds of Shias.

In his numerous statements, al-Zarqawi has said that killing Iraqi Shias is a duty. He apparently believes that the main mission of Al-Qaeda in Iraq is not fighting against the U.S. forces but killing Shia Muslims.

Clearly, he is the most dangerous enemy of the Iraqi Shias, and so naturally the Iranians hate him.

But why are the Arab and Western media claiming that he is currently in Iran?

Obviously, this disinformation is being disseminated to achieve certain propaganda objectives.

As the Islamic Republic’s presidential election approaches, Western and Arab countries have stepped up their anti-Iranian propaganda with the aim of poisoning the electoral atmosphere, which is currently relatively free of political tension.

In fact, the Iranian nation would be happy to see this terrorist detained as soon as possible and tried in an international court to face a punishment commensurate with his crimes.

With their exceptional political acumen, the Iranian nation will not be deceived by the propaganda of the Western media and will pursue the election process diligently, ignoring all the brouhaha of the West.

SA/HG

End

MNA