TEHRAN An Egyptian expert in strategic affairs, Hesam Soilam, has said that the Zionist regime will use military bases in the Central Asian countries for its air raids or special operations against the Islamic Republic.

In an article published by the *** Al-Hayat *** daily on Saturday, Soilam, a retired army colonel, further said that the Zionist regime is trying to expand its relations with Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with the intention of installing electronic espionage equipment at the northern borders of Iran.

He added that the attention paid by Israel to the Central Asian republics is based on a strategy prepared by first prime minister of the Zionist regime, David Ben-Gurion. This retired army colonel said that the strategy is aimed at surrounding the Arab countries.

Referring to the expansion of economic, cultural and military ties between Tel Aviv and the Central Asian states, Soilam further criticized Arab and Islamic countries for failing to expand their relations with these countries, whose nations are mostly Muslim. He said the Islamic countries only stress the expansion of cultural and religious relations and ignore economic and military ties with the Central Asian republics.