Takfiri groups serving enemies of Islam, Iran

Iran said on Tuesday that Takfiri groups are fomenting sectarian strife among Muslims and are, thus, serving the enemies of Islam. "We believe that fomenting sectarian and religious war, conflict and division among Muslims is as foreign plot and we do believe that there are hands at work, specially the hands of the Zionist regime, which provoke these divisions and conflicts," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday. He condemned any divisive move among Muslims, calling it a "satanic move". Araqchi deplored the collaborators of the enemies, and said, "I am not interested in naming any of these groups. We believe that all of them are Takfiri groups who spark division in the Muslim world through their actions, serving the goals of the enemies of Islam." "We hope that (certain groups in) the Muslim world would grow this correct insight that it should stop divisive moves," he added. Earlier today, Israel underlined that Syria should even be handed over to al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, most of them Salafis and Takfiris, if that is the only option to change the government in order to harm Iran. A top figure in Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Sima Shine, issued a statement urging that Israel unconditionally back government change in Syria, no matter who replaces President Bashar al-Assad, simply to harm Iran. “Israel’s main strategic threat is Iran, not Syria,” Shine declared, insisting that Israel should base all strategic policies on “what harms Iran”. Shine rejected any results that would keep Assad in power, even in the weakest condition after the bloody war, because then “he’d be even more dependent on Iran”. Shine conceded that this might mean handing Syria over to the al-Qaeda-linked militants, saying that there were “no good options” on Syria but that anything that really stuck it to Iran. Iran has avoided interfering in the crisis in Syria, while insisting on sticking to a political solution to end the conflict. Israeli regime has been a key supporter of the unrest in Syria which has gripped the country for more than two years. The regime has carried out at least three airstrikes on Syrian soil so far this year. Tel Aviv’s provocative moves around Lebanon with its warplanes hovering over Beirut as well as its recent activities in the occupied Golan Heights have raised security concerns in regional countries. Analysts believe that due to its deep involvement in the crisis, Israel cannot afford to settle with a condition in which President Assad remain in power even if that is the only way to stop the bloodshed. Assad has always said that he cannot leave the country in the hands of extremist and terrorist groups that have created the cruelest scenes the country has ever witnessed.