IRGC Training to Liberate Al-Aqsa Triggers Israeli Concern

Should the IRGC launch such an operation to liberate the holy al-Aqsa mosque from the Zionist occupation, it would mean that the long-awaited freedom of Palestine is finally achieved.

The al-Aqsa mosque

(TEHRAN) - The Iranian Revolutionary Guard have held a military drill under the title of “toward al-Quds” as a replica of the Dome of the Rock was liberated in the mock war game.

Thousands of elite paramilitary forces simulated the capture of the holy al-Aqsa mosque from Israeli hegemony. The exercise was held on Friday in the holy city of Qom where 120 brigades of Basiji staged a mock takeover of the holy site.

Israeli media were quick to circulate the military drills with Haaretz and Ynet news reporting on the subject.

The al-Aqsa mosque has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the Zionist regime has continued to violate the sanctity of one of Islam’s holiest sites.

Consequently, the Islamic Republic of Iran has concerned itself with the Palestinian cause from a humanitarian and religious perspective. On the one hand, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and the subsequent maltreatment of Palestinians is a humane concern for Tehran.

As for the religious standpoint, it stems from Iran’s Islamic principles which, more often than not, chart its political motivations and foreign policies.

The case of al-Aqsa pertains to the Iranians as an Islamic cause. In this aim, late leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Ruhollah Khomeini declared the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as al-Quds day urging Muslims around the world to commemorate it to keep the cause alive.

The Zionist occupation forces regularly raid the holy compound, located in the city of al-Quds, attack worshippers and impose restrictions on Palestinians.

On a larger scale, the mosque is believed to be at risk of collapse due to Israeli excavations allegedly aimed at digging up King Solomon’s Temple Mount.

The Islamic Republic has outspokenly dubbed the Israeli regime as the enemy of Islam. Historically, Iran has stood against the UN Partition Plan for Palestine and voted against the Israelis’ admission to the United Nations.

“We have to remember that Iran is our enemy,” said MK Tzipi Livni, against the backdrop of the Iranian nuclear deal.

The effect of this exercise ripples in Israeli-occupied Palestine where already fear of Iran’s growing regional power is on the rise.

In June, the Israelis staged a civil exercise ahead of a nuclear deal deadline. Mock radio news bulletins stated that the imaginary attack was carried out by Hezbollah, Iran’s ally in southern Lebanon.

The drill was planned to simulate reality and was named the “Day After” but were far from able to feign the fear the Israelis would feel in the event of such an attack.

An operation by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard would be unprecedented and unprepared for. Should the IRGC launch such an operation to liberate the holy al-Aqsa mosque from the Zionist occupation, it would mean that the long-awaited freedom of Palestine is finally achieved.

All the while, the Iranian mock exercise of recapturing of the holy site proves that the Palestinian cause remains on top of the Islamic Republic’s agenda.