Iran Focus
London, 10 May – A senior member of Syria’s democratic opposition has said that the fight against Bashar al-Assad is a joint battle with Tehran. George Sabra from the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) told Simaye Azadi (INTV), an Iranian opposition television channel, that the Iranian Resistance was an ally.
Sabra praised Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, for her outspoken position on Aleppo and the war-crimes perpetrated by Assad with the aid of Tehran.
“We believe that the Iranian Resistance is on our side with all sincerity, and we honor our joint measures against dictators to help the people of Syria and to end the crisis that has been created by the mullahs’ regime. In fact, the Tehran regime supports Assad’s dictatorship to pursue their goals. Therefore, our battle is a joint battle”, said George Sabra.
Iran and Syria are part of an intelligence sharing alliance which includes Russia. Assad’s government has received substantial support from Russia and Iran, without which they may have been overrun. Aleppo has gone from Syria’s most populous and economically prosperous city to rubble. Sabra said it was not a “military confrontation or a war but a systematic and ongoing slaughter”.
Some Iran watchers say a reprieve has been won by the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance but it comes at a great cost in the long term as economic resources are funnelled out of Iran, away from the millions of unemployed Iranians, to prop up proxy wars across the Middle East and North Africa.
Sabra was optimistic when looking towards the future. He imagined a region of tranquility where countries ruled on their own interests, without impinging on those of others. Sabra’s vision is firmly grounded in reality. The region has an incredibly young population and vast amounts of natural resources which up until now have been squandered on sectarian militia and in offshore bank accounts.
