TEHRAN – Iran’s Army Chief said on Saturday that foreign powers are the chief causes of crises in the region, citing calamities in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and Palestine as examples.

“A major portion of factors behind formation of these crises is due to the role of foreign powers. Unfortunately, some factors are also the result of divergent policies and behaviors within the Islamic world, which are far from rational and religious principles,” Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said, according the English version of the Mehr news agency.

Given the strategies of arrogant powers and wrong policies of some Islamic countries, today the Islamic world is facing serious crises, the senior general lamented.

“Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Kashmir and Caucasus regions are struggling with unrest and violence,” the top general regretted while addressing an international Islamic unity conference through video conference.

General Mousavi said that the Islamic world has spread over vast geography and extends from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to Southeast Asia, and from Northeast Central Asia to the Southeast of the ancient continent.

Evil powers have occupied a part of the Islamic land with their Zionist extremists and are committing the most heinous crimes against Islamic lands and territories, the major general stated.

The Army commander said other important reasons behind the spread of crises in the Islamic world are lack of consensus in the move towards proximity of Islamic religions and lack of sufficient attention to unity, amity, and solidarity between Muslims.

He adding, “Thus, unity, amity, and empathy, as well as convergence in the world of Islam, is more essential than ever in the contemporary world.”

According to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the issue of unity today is at the top of Islamic issues, and strengthening the movement towards Islamic convergence is the first necessity of Islamic world in the current situation, he added.

He went on to say that Iran, which is considered the core of resistance movement, has faced political pressure, military threats as well as cruel economic sanctions.

Iran has come under the harshest sanctions in history by the U.S. administration. The sanctions, which has been introduced under the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign have even disrupted the flow of medicines and medical equipment to the country.

PA/PA