Iran Guard simulates Al Aqsa ‘liberation’

Thous-ands of paramilitary forc-es from the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guar-d have held a war game simulating the capture of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mo-sque from Israeli control.

Iran’s state media repo-rted on Saturday that the forces stormed and “liberated” a replica of the mos-que in the exercise. They say that 120 brigades from the Basij, the paramilita-ry unit of the Guard, participated in Friday’s exercise outside the holy city of Qom in central Iran.

The symbolic operatio-ns were backed up by Guard helicopters, drones and Tucano planes that bombed hypothetical ene-my positions before gro-und troops captured the replica of the mosque set up at the top of a mountain. In a common mistake, the Guard set up a replica of the gold-topped Dome of the Rock instead of the nearby mosque.

Official photos showed one of the troops going to the top of the dome and waving an Iranian flag and a red-coloured flag, a symbol of martyrdom.

The hilltop compound, which is holy to Jews and Muslims, has been at the heart of weeks of unrest between Israel and the Palestinians.

Muslims call the spot the Noble Sanctuary, and the mosque is Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Jews revere the spot as the Temple Mount — home to the biblical Tem-ples and the holiest site in Judaism.

The current round of fighting was sparked in part by rumours that Israel was plotting to take over the site — a charge that Israel vehemently denies.

Clashes outside the mosque erupted in September and quickly spread across Israel and into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Iran, Israel’s arch-enemy, frequently expres-ses solidarity with the Palestinians.