“All of the Mid East is Iranian” – presidential adviser in Tehran

Top presidential adviser Ali Younesi said Monday that Iran is once again an empire whose influence extends to Iraq and beyond. He spoke after Saudi Arabia expressed alarm that “Iran is taking over Iraq.” Younesi, a former intelligence minister, said, “The geography of Iran and Iraq cannot be divided. All of the Middle East is Iranian,” Younesi declared, warning that no one had the right to oppose Iran’s influence in the region. The people now living in neighboring countries are also Iranian “because their countries were separated from the empire east and west.”