Former Iraqi Ambassador to France Ghazi Faisal: Iran's Expansionist Doctrine Is a Threat to the Entire Islamic World

Former Iraqi ambassador to France Ghazi Faisal said in a May 25, 2019 interview on Samarra TV (Iraq) that Iran should change the military doctrine enshrined in its constitution that says that the Iranian army and the IRGC have duties beyond Iran's borders that aim at establishing "divine justice" and spreading the law of God. Giving the example of how Hizbullah in Lebanon has grown more powerful than the Lebanese state and military, and saying that this is an example of Imam Khomeini's philosophy of dismantling states that rule by man-made constitutions and of spreading the "Rule of the Jurisprudent," Faisal said that Iran's doctrine runs counter to the U.N. Charter, which prohibits intervention in sovereign matters of other countries, and poses a threat to Lebanon, Bahrain, Nigeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, and the entire Islamic world. He added that a military confrontation will occur if Iran fails to contain this doctrine, abandon its hostile attitude, and come to serious negotiations.

Following are excerpts:

Ghazi Faisal: Iran should change the military doctrine that is part of its constitution. The constitution is the law of laws, and it reflects the essence of the Iranian theory of the Rule of the Jurisprudent. The military doctrine in the Iranian constitution states that the Iranian army and the IRGC have duties beyond the borders [of Iran], in countries in the Middle East and in the Islamic world. These duties aim at establishing a state of divine justice, and of spreading the law of God. I mean, who gave the Iranian leadership the celestial and divine mission of implementing diving justice?

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The root of the Rule of the Jurisprudent theory, which appeared in Imam Khomeini's book, is to wage war against states that are ruled by man-made laws and constitutions. He considered these states to be in violation of the shari'a. So he authorized this military doctrine in the constitution. This poses a grave threat of Iranian intervention in Bahrain, in Lebanon… [Iran] established Hizbullah in Lebanon, and Hizbullah has become larger than the Lebanese state itself. Hizbullah declares war when it wants and declares peace when it wants. It conducts negotiations. Where is the Lebanese state? The Lebanese army? They have evaporated. This was Khomeini's philosophy of establishing parallel organizations that will dismantle the states, and then will spread the Rule of the Jurisprudent, which is centered in Qom. I believe that this theory poses a threat to the security of the Islamic world, and it runs counter to the Charter of the United Nations, which prohibits interference in the sovereign matters of other countries. In order to become a normal state, Iran must relinquish its expansionist strategy, its strategy of hegemony, and its strategy of imposing its own political model on other countries. What Iran has done in Nigeria is dangerous. What Iran has done in Sudan is dangerous. What Iran is doing in Tunisia and in Algeria, and its attempts in Morocco and Egypt, and what it has done in Yemen… These are all catastrophes, crises, and bloody wars in the Islamic world.

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Over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world do not believe in the Rule of the Jurisprudent. How can you impose on 1.5 billion Muslims a theory in which they do not believe?

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Anything is possible. If Iran fails to contain this tension and reach serious negotiations, and if it does not change its hostile and oppressive military strategy of interfering in the sovereign matters of other countries, there will definitely be a military confrontation.