Power is shifting from West to East - Iranian Major General

Iranian Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi says that power is shifting from the West to the East, Tehran Times reported.

Safavi, who is the former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, made the remarks at a ceremony held in Tehran on Sunday to commemorate Basij Week, which started on November 20.

"I clearly say that power is moving from the West of the world to the East of the world and in the current century, global power will be concentrated in the East of the world," Safavi stated.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said, "The countries that are strong in both hard and soft warfare try to make use of the world's economic, political, cultural, and security opportunities in a way which serves their colonial interests in the current century."

For the countries which are strong in only one of those areas, global issues could serve as threats as well as opportunities, Safavi added.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has great capabilities in the area of soft warfare, Safavi noted, adding that the Basij (volunteer) forces play a key and influential role in the field of soft warfare.

He also said some of the sources of Iran's power in soft warfare are the late Imam Khomeini's ideology, velayat-e faqih (rule of the supreme jurisprudent), the population of 73 million, the country's national coherence and resolve, and its influence on regional equations in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine.