Jalili: Balance of power changed in favor of Muslim world

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili in a meeting with Head of the Turkish-Palestinian Parliamentary Friendship Group Murat Yildirim stressed that the Islamic Awakening sweeping the Middle-East and North Africa has changed the balance of power in favor of the Muslim world. During the meeting, Jalili said the recent wave of Islamic Awakening in the Middle East and North Africa has shifted the balance of power in favor of the Muslim world. Jalili made the remarks, referring to revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and popular uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He also noted that the Islamic Awakening in the region must be used against the hegemonic policies of the United States and Israel. Since the start of 2011, the region has witnessed a growing wave of popular protests resulted from the people's growing awareness and vigilance. Tunisia saw the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in a popular revolution in January, which was soon followed by a revolution which toppled Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in February. Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Libya have since been the scene of protests against their totalitarian rulers, who have resorted to brutal crackdown on demonstrations to silence their critics. While Libya celebrated the victory of its revolution after the death of the country's dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, in October, uprisings continue in several other Muslim states. Following these uprisings and revolutions, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said the waves of Islamic awakening sweeping the region are part of people's struggle to get free from the yoke of the US hegemony, and added that the collapse of the US-puppet regimes will continue in future. "The Islamic moves of the nations will no doubt make progress and remain," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a large number of Basiji (volunteer) forces in Tehran in November. "With the nations' consecutive awakenings, the puppet regimes affiliated to the world arrogance will go out of the scene one after another and the might and magnificence of Islam will increase day by day," he added.