Visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today in Damascus, Iranian Defense Secretary Amir Hatami confirmed Iran’s commitment to the Syrian government. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and al-Quds force has fought along side Russian forces to beat back a determined Saudi proxy war started March 15, 2011 to topple al-Assad’s Damascus government. With the Saudi proxy war seven years old, al-Assad has fought with Russia and Iran help to preserve his Shiite Alawite regime. Saudi’s Sunni government led by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud started the 2011 Arab Spring, seeking to topple Baathist or secular regimes around the Middle East. While Tunisia, Egypt and Libya feL by the wayside, al-Assad fought back, enlisting Russia and Iran to save the Syrian Arab Republic. Seven years later, Syria’s close to purging the country of Saudi-backed terror groups.
Meeting with al-Assad in Damascus, Hatami pledged his military support to Syria until every terrorist has been pushed out of its borders. “Not only the people of the region, but the people of the world are indebted to the battles that have taken place against terrorists in Syria,” Hatami told al-Assad. Promising that all of Syria would be liberated, Hatami showed that Iran would succumb to U.S. pressure to vacate Syria. Unlike the U.S. presence in Syria, Iran has the blessings of al-Assad to defend Syria against Saudi backed terrorists. “Relations between the two countries are strong and stable,” Assad said in a meeting. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have been found amassing near the Golan Heights, territory Israel annexed after the 1967 Six-Day-War. Former President Barack Obama did everything possible to support anti-Assad, Saudi-backed rebel groups, despite the war in Yemen.
Iran’s proxy war in Yemen, supplying arms-and-cash to Houthi rebels, has been going on since March 30, 2015. Iranian supplied missiles have been raining down sear the Saudi International Airport. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels based in Aden have given the Saudi government fits. Saudi Defense Minister Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, together with his U.S.-educated Foreign Minister Abdel al-Jubeir has promised to never let up on his proxy war against al-Assad. Al-Assad with Russian and Iranian help has pushed back the seven-year-old Saudi proxy war to topple al-Assad’s Shiite government. Iran’s Defense Minister Hatami promised to use all the technology necessary to maintain law-and-order in Syria. Hatami wowed to not stop his proxy war until every terrorist group, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] and al-Qaeda, has been defeated.
Since Trump took office Jan. 20, 2017, the U.S. stopped funding Syrian rebel group, like the Free Syrian Army, to topple al-Assad’s Damascus government. Obama spent millions of dollars over a six-year period on covert U.S. military operations to topple al-Assad. When Russian President Vladimir Putin committed Russian air assets Sept 30, 2015 to keep al-Assad in power, Obama was checkmated. Trump recognized the utter futility of Obama backing the Saudi proxy war in Syria for the last six years. Trump decided to stop funding the Saudi-backed insurgency to maintain more stability in the region. Once Putin committed his air assets, Iran redoubled efforts with its elite al-Quds forces and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia to keep al-Assad in power. Over Saudi objections, Trump decided to back Moscow’s plan to rid Syrian of miscellaneous terror groups all deciding to topple al-Assad.
Putin walks a tightrope backing Iran in Syria, while, at the same time, telling Iran to stay away from the Israeli border, especially the Golan Heights. “The Islamic Republic has high capabilities in the area of defense and can help Syria in expanding their military equipment,” Hatami told ISNA official news agency. Iran promises to supply al-Assad with the same weapons given to Houthi rebels in Yemen, currently battling the Saudis to loggerheads. Iran has no intention of listen to U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton who urged Iran, in the strongest terms, to get out of Syria. Unlike the U.S., Iran has the full backing of the Syrian government. Iran sees a golden opportunity to project power in Syria with Russian backing, defying the U.S. whether it likes it or not. As long as al-Assad has Russia’s and Iran’s backing, it won’t be leaving Syrian anytime soon.
Trump holds and night-and-day foreign policy difference with Obama who wholeheartedly backed the Saudi regime change policy in Riyadh. Trump wants Iran to back off in Yemen, something also wanted by Saudi Arabia. “We hope to have a productive role in the reconstruction of Syria,” Hatami told the semi-official Fars News agency. Unlike Obama, Trump recognized that Syria was a lost cause, especially for supplying arms-and-cash to various rebel groups, some of which are actively attempting to sabotage the U.S. “We hope to have a productive role in reconstruction of Syria,” Hatami told the Iranian Fars news agency. Instead to praising Trump for his good instincts in Syria, the press finds everything possible wrong with his domestic and foreign policy. Despite loosing over 1,000 troops in Syria, Iran remains committed to keeping al-Assad in power.
