| New York Times | - |
Published:
August 27, 2013. Iranian lawmakers and commanders issued stark warnings
to the United States and its allies on Tuesday, saying any military
strike on Syria would lead to a retaliatory attack on Israel fanned by “the flames of outrage.” ...
Strike on Syria Would Cause One on Israel, Iran Declares
By THOMAS ERDBRINK
Published: August 27, 2013
Iranian lawmakers and commanders issued stark warnings to the United
States and its allies on Tuesday, saying any military strike on Syria
would lead to a retaliatory attack on Israel fanned by “the flames of
outrage.”
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The warnings came against a backdrop of rising momentum among Western
governments for a military intervention in the Syria conflict over what
the United States, Britain, France and others have called undeniable
evidence that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used banned chemical
weapons on civilians last week, killing hundreds. Mr. Assad has accused
the insurgents who are trying to topple him of using such munitions.
Iran, which itself came under chemical weapons assault by Iraq during
its eight-year war in the 1980s, has been a loyal ally of the Syrian
government. Iranian hard-liners often say Syria is Iran’s first trench
in a potential war with hostile Western powers. Iran has blamed Israel
for the conflict in Syria, saying Israel is trying to bring down Mr.
Assad.
“In case of a U.S. military strike against Syria, the flames of outrage
of the region’s revolutionaries will point toward the Zionist regime,”
the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Mansur Haqiqatpur, an
influential member of Parliament, as saying on Tuesday.
At the same time Iran has always taken the moral high ground on the
issue of chemical weapons, actively opposing their use. If it turns out
that Mr. Assad’s side deployed the weapons, it will be difficult for
Iranian leaders to explain their support for the Syrian president to
their people, analysts point out.
A potential military intervention by the United States in Syria also
represents a test for Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, who
condemned the use of chemical weapons on his Twitter account on Monday, but stopped short of blaming either side in the Syrian conflict.
On Tuesday the new foreign minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif,
stressed that Iran condemned the use of chemical weapons by any group.
He also said Iran had pressed the Syrian government to assist the United
Nations weapons inspectors who are in the country conducting an
inquiry.
There is no evidence, he said, that chemical weapons were used by the
Syrian government. But in remarks quoted by the official Islamic
Republic News Agency. Mr. Zarif said there was some evidence that such
munitions had been given to what he called Takfiri groups, referring to
Syria’s insurgents. Takfiri is a disparaging term used by Muslims for
extremist groups that accuse others of apostasy.
Many analysts close to Mr. Rouhani privately say that Syria is an
obstacle to change inside Iran. The country’s hard-liners say any attack
on Syria is in fact an act of war against Iran, and point to a support
pact in which both nations have vowed to defend each other in case of a
military attack by a third country.
“Naturally Iran does not want to lose Syria as a foothold in the
region,” said Davoud Hermidas-Bavand, a professor of international
relations at Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran.
“But in the long run a solution for Syria will mean that officials in
Tehran can soften their stance towards the U.S.,” he said. “It means we
would have a more open domestic atmosphere.”
Iran is widely seen as having close coordination with Hezbollah, the
militant Shiite Lebanese organization that is an ideological ally. Both
regard Israel as a common enemy, and Hezbollah is reported to have many
rockets deployed in southern Lebanon capable of striking deep into
Israeli territory.
Iran and Hezbollah are heavily engaged in helping Mr. Assad’s side in
the Syria conflict. Iranian military advisers have been seen in Syria,
and Iran provides military support and training to Hezbollah fighters,
who have joined the Syrian armed forces in recent months retake
rebel-held areas.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meeting with visiting
Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman in Tehran on Monday, predicted
the Syrian conflict would escalate far beyond its borders if other
regional nations continued to aid the Syrian opposition.
“Their supporters must know that this fire will finally engulf them as
well,” Mr. Khamenei said, according to the Mehr news agency.
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