Iran Focus
London, 16 Sep – Supreme Leader Khamenei’s representative said earlier in the week that it is essential to Iran for the Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad to remain in power.
Earlier this year the Supreme Leader had said that if the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was not in Syria, it would be fighting in Iranian cities.
A few days ago, Assad thanked and praised “Iman” Khamenei, describing him as the Supreme Leader of the Revolution. He praised the role of the Iranian regime in seizing more of the province of Deir-al-Zour and for killing Syrians.
This shocking statement comes not long after an agreement that was made between ISIS and Hezbollah which Assad approved and Khamenei ordered. It is proof that the IRGC and its militias in Syria are taking any means necessary to keep the Syrian dictator in power.
It is abundantly clear that for as long as the IRGC exists, it will continue to fuel terror and wars. Therefore, it is imperative, to the highest degree, that the IRGC is evicted from Syria, otherwise there will never be peace and tranquillity in the country.
Replacing ISIS with the IRGC and its militias is to replace one terrorist group for another. And the IRGC poses the greatest danger to the entire region. Especially because the IRGC tries to justify its actions by saying that the Iranian regime is in Syria to defend “the holy shrines of Ahl al-Bayt”.
The IRGC really needs the war to continue in Syria, because if it doesn’t, the war will be in Iran. It will be between the leaders of Iran and the people.
Earlier this year, Khamenei said: “If it was not for the martyr defenders of the holy shrine, today we would have to fight the evil elements and enemies of Ahl-alBayt (AS) in Iranian cities … The current security of the country is owed to the shrine’s defenders.”
Brigadier General Hamedani, an IRGC commander who was killed in Syria, said in 2015 that Syria is of utmost importance to the regime. He said: “The depth of our strategy is Syria … Geopolitically, Syria is the key to connecting the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. One of our major goals and ideals of the (regime) is the liberation of Quds. Syria is the key to the region. Compared to Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, Syria is a priority. If any one of these countries encounters a problem, we will not lose as much as losing Syria. Therefore, the goals that we had in Syria were strategic goals.”
He also indicated that the Syrian dictator would have been ousted long ago if it were not for the intervention of Iran. He said: “March of 2012 terrorists [i.e. the Free Syrian Army] were approaching the point of victory … They were able to tighten the ring of the siege and get closer to the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus so that they would have occupied the palace soon. The situation was very complicated. Bashar al-Assad considered himself done and was looking to go to another country.”
The international community needs to act immediately so that Iran’s goals can be halted. This is not just for the security of the Middle East, but for the whole of the world.
