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Spreading Iran's Revolution to Africa
(Daily Beast) Philip Obaji Jr. - Nigerian authorities claim that members of the radical Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) had attempted to assassinate the Nigerian Army Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Dec. 12 when his motorcade was passing through a Shia procession. The threat in this case was not from the radical Sunni Boko Haram but from converts to Shia Islam inspired by the Iranian Revolution. The leader of the IMN, Ibrahim Zakzaky, is an Iranian-trained Shia theologian who is vehemently anti-American. In the last two decades, Iran has increased its influence in Nigeria and maintains a large diplomatic presence. Adel Assadinia, a former career diplomat who was Iran's consul-general in Dubai, has claimed that Iran provides the IMN with training "in guerrilla warfare, bomb-making, use of arms such as handguns, rifles and RPGs, and the manufacturing of bombs and hand grenades." Assadinia also claimed that the IMN was set up by and modeled on Hizbullah.