A Middle East Expert displayed an unusual flag on Israeli TV which contained the hidden message, “Iran can, and probably will fall in one day, paving the way for peace with Israel.”

Dr. Kedar and the flag of Ahwaz

Dr. Mordechai Kedar has a deep understanding of the Arab mindset. A senior lecturer on Arabic culture at Bar-Ilan University, he served for 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence, where he specialized in Islamic groups, the political discourse of Arab countries, the Arabic press and mass media, and the Syrian domestic arena. Fluent in Arabic, he is one of the very few Israelis appearing on Arab television, frequently debating Arab thought leaders and imams in their native tongue.

It was therefore highly significant when he made a powerful prediction concerning the Iranian threat to Israel. 

The prediction came as part of an unusual aspect of his office decor. In a video interview with Channel 2, Dr. Mordechai Kedar was asked about an unusual flag that he had on display in his office. 

“On one side, I have the flag of Israel,” Dr. Kedar said. “On this side, I have the flag of the State of Ahwaz.”

Dr. Kedar was referring to the relatively unknown National Liberation Movement of Ahwaz, an Arab nationalist and separatist organization whose goal is to establish an independent state called Ahwaz in Iran. Ahwaz, constituting 375,000 square miles and home to five million Arab Ahwazi, was occupied by the Persians in 1925.  

“This is a nation that, inshallah (Allah willing), will arise after Iran falls apart into separate ethnic entities,” Dr. Kedar said. “Essentially, Iran is not one country or one nation. There are Arabs, which is Ahwaz, there are Kurds, Turkmen, Azerbaijan, Balochi.”

“The day will come when Iran will split up and in the meantime, I am doing everything I can to make this happen as quickly as possible.”

Dr. Kedar was asked if he really thought this was going to happen as Iran seems firmly entrenched and quite strong at the moment.

“Look, one month before the Soviet Union broke up, no one anticipated that. Even the ‘great expert’ on the Soviet Union, Condoleeza Rice who advised President Bush, did not foresee this.”

“This is a process that does happen and it will happen. I don’t know how long it will take or how many skulls will be rolling in the streets because of this. The Iranian regime will not release Ahwaz so quickly because that is where all the Iranian oil and gas reserves are located. That is the region that overlooks the Persian Gulf. The Iranians will fight for control of this region as much as they are able. Otherwise, they will be left as a Persian enclave in Asia after the Balochi and the others close them off from the sea. Therefore this heavy price, they will be willing to pay.”

“They will speak Arabic but they will look upon us as part of a covenant since the Arabic community abandoned them. Therefore, we need to invest in this region, in the people, and to help them. Iran needs to be broken up. This will be a game-changer in our dealing with Iran.”

Israel’s allies in Persia

In an interview with Israel365 News, Dr. Kedar emphasized that the revolution that replaced the ancient Persian Empire with the current Iranian regime took place in 1978. 

“The Persian Empire included what we call Israel and Turkey and many other countries,” Dr. Kedar said. “The map has changed drastically, is always changing, and can still change.”

The flag in his office has a compelling origin. It was sent to Dr. Kedar by the people of Ahwaz who turned to him for support.

“The change can happen because the people want it and will demand it,” Dr. Kedar said. He noted that over the summer, the Iranian regime was hard-pressed to suppress protests in the Ahwazi region due to extreme water shortages. “They are suffering horrible oppression. It is a humanitarian crisis the media is ignoring entirely because it runs against political interests, like the US agenda to support the Iranian regime. The Ahwazi are, nonetheless, fighting back in many ways. They are real fighters. It would be a huge mitzvah for Israel to support the people of Ahwaz and the other ethnic groups and it is also in our national interest.”

“The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, all divided along ethnic lines in the recent past. We can expect the same thing in Iran where only about half of the population are Persian. The rest are ethnically different, non-Persian. If they all decide on one day to take to the streets, the Iranian regime will fall in one day.”

Dr. Kedar is in close contact with leaders in the Ahwazi movement and knows that such a possibility is being discussed.

“Israel’s greatest threats, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, all faded because of internal issues, domestic erosion. The same can very well happen in Iran.”