Iran: If Syria Is Attacked, It Will Strike U.S., Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, As Well As E.U. Interests; Israel Will Be Destroyed.

Iran: If Syria Is Attacked, It Will Strike U.S., Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, As Well As E.U. Interests; Israel Will Be Destroyed. HT Memri.



In response to the possibility of a U.S. military strike against Syria following reports that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own citizens, Iran has voiced a series of threats against Arab countries in the region and also against Israel and the West, in an attempt to prevent attacks on its ally Syria and to ensure that Assad remains in power .[1]

While Assad's promise to retaliate for such an attack was not particularly emphatic, and Hizbullah barely responded at all,[2] most of the Iranian officials' statements on the matter threatened a Syrian response that would set the region ablaze. Only a few Iranian threats specifically referred to retaliation by Iran itself – and even those were issued prior to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's August 28 statements (see below).[3]

It appears that, as on previous occasions, Iran's promises of regional conflagration are empty threats aimed solely at intimidation, and it is not clear that they will actually be carried out .

Endnotes:

[1] The Lebanese daily Al-Safir, which is close to the Syrian regime, claims that Iran considers Damascus the "twin" of Tehran, and it sees a war against Syria as a war against Iran. According to a source close to senior Iranian officials, Tehran has informed Russia and China that it intends to stand by Syria "to its very last breath" and will not relinquish it even if they will. Al-Safir claims that the moment it became known that there could be an attack on Syria, Iranian plans prepared in advance for just such a scenario were placed on Khamenei's desk . Iran's intention is to convey the clear message to the U.S. and the West that any such escapade, regardless of its scope, will end in a quagmire for all those participating in the attack, and that after the attack the world will never be the same. Al-Safir (Lebanon), August 28, 2013.

[2] Hizbullah MP Walid Sakariya assessed that if the Western attack was limited in scope and not aimed at toppling the Assad regime, Hizbullah would not be interested in intervening and widening it into a regional conflict. However, he said, if the U.S. did seek to bring down Assad and to besiege the resistance and deliver a serious blow to Iran and Syria, the Israeli front would be activated. Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), August 29, 2013. The Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, which is close to the March 14 Forces, reported, citing sources close to decision-makers in Hizbullah, that Hizbullah was continuing its policy of keeping its cards hidden and not revealing how it might respond to an attack on Syria . Al-Nahar (Lebanon), August 29, 2013.

[3] On August 24, 2013, Majlis National Security Committee Chairman Ala Al-Din Boroujerdi said: "Syria's regional allies will not sit idly by in the face of a potential attack [on Syria]." Press TV (Iran), August 24, 2013. The next day, August 25, during a visit to the Strait of Hormuz, IRGC Commander Ali Jafari said: "Our moves depend on the positions and measures of the enemy. So far, we have not been attacked by any state, but if the enemy's measures, either direct or indirect, take the form of threats, we shall regard it our undeniable right to defend ourselves... The role of the Zionist regime in the bloody events in the region is becoming clearer by the day, but the final outcome [of these developments] will surely not benefit this [Zionist] regime... " Fars (Iran), August 25, 2013.

The following are excerpts from some of the Iranian threats. Read the full story here.



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