Views from Arabic media

Israel to face Iran's wrath if U.S. attacks Syria

al-Albawaba, (Lebanon)

31 August, 2013

BEIRUT: Israel will face retaliation if the United States launches a military strike against Syria, a senior Iranian military official warned, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported Saturday.

“Israel will be hit by retaliatory attacks if the United States launches an offensive on Syria since it [the Jewish state] is the first instigator in attacking [Syria],” Iranian Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi said.

Iran staunchly backs the regime in Damascus and is Hezbollah’s leading supporter in the region.

Firouzabadi accused Israel of spearheading efforts to drag Washington into a war with the government in Damascus.

The U.S. has stepped up its war rhetoric against Damascus after accusing President Bashar Assad’s regime of using chemical weapons earlier this month against opposition strongholds outside Damascus.

The Syrian government has strongly denied the accusations but vowed to counter any act of aggression against the country.

The Iranian military’s top brass also accused Washington of siding with Al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria, warning of consequences in case of a U.S. strike against the war-torn country.

"The U.S., which has invaded countries in the region under the big lie of battling Al-Qaeda following the September 11 [2001 attacks], is now fighting in favor of Al-Qaeda in Syria," the Iranian general said.

Firouzabadi also warned the U.S. war rhetoric could bring about massive problems for other powers.

“Regional countries backing this cruel war will suffer serious losses,” he said.

Iranian MPs meet Assad, denounce possible U.S. strike

Daily Star,

31 August, 2013

TEHRAN: Iranian MPs held talks Saturday in Syria with President Bashar al-Assad and denounced any possible Western attack on that country over chemical weapons allegations, the head of the delegation said.

Meanwhile, the head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards warned that a US strike would trigger "reactions beyond" Syria and would bolster extremism.

"As representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran we declare our hostility for any attack or war against Syria," IRNA news agency quoted Allaeddine Boroujerdi, chairman of parliament's influential foreign policy committee, as saying.

US President Barack Obama on Friday said he was weighing "limited, narrow" action against Syria after US intelligence reports said President Bashar al-Assad's regime had gassed to death hundreds of women and children.

Boroujerdi said Iran informed the United States that rebels fighting to topple Assad have chemical weapons.

"Unfortunately the United States did not heed our warning," he said after heading a three-member delegation that met Assad.

Diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States have been severed since 1980, and the Swiss embassy in Tehran handles US interests there.

Syria's government has denied using chemical weapons and has pointed the finger of blame at "terrorists" -- its term for rebels seeking to topple Assad.

Boroujerdi said Iran condemns the use of chemical weapons "by terrorist groups against the Syrian population."

Iran, Damascus's main regional ally, has issued stern warnings against any US-led military action targeting Syria, with the latest on Saturday by the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards.

Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari warned that a US strike would trigger "reactions beyond" Syria and would bolster extremism.

"The fact that the Americans believe that military intervention will be limited to within Syrian borders is an illusion; it will provoke reactions beyond that country," Jafari was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

"Just as US interventions in the Islamic world (Afghanistan, Iraq) have bolstered extremism, so will an aggression on Syria reinforce extremism and, as in Iraq and Afghanistan, its results will be pain, massacre and the exodus of the innocent population," he added.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said a strike on Syria would be a "disaster" for the region.

And on Friday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke by telephone with UN special envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi to "warn against any adventurism that will have serious consequences".

Iranian media reported that Zarif also called a dozen European and Arab foreign ministers to "condemn the use of chemical weapons" in Syria, to "criticise the war-mongering (of the US and its allies) and raise concern about the consequences of any military action in the region".

Contrast that with Saudi Arabia's al-Arabiya. Who is pushing the agenda?

Iran’s ‘payback time’ over Syria

al-Arabiya,

31 August, 2013

Following the latest announcements by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his forces deploying chemical weapons in an attack that killed hundreds of innocent children and women, Defense Secretary

Chuck Hagel indicated that the United States was “ready to go,” with military action against Syria, where more than 100,000 have been killed as the country enters the third year of this devastating civil war. The world, the international community and particularly the countries of Britain, France, Germany and Australia are awaiting a decision from the White House.

However, one of the most intriguing regional and geopolitical issues is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s reaction to the decision made by many nations to back a serious military response to Assad’s use of chemical weapons.

Tehran’s threats

After a report was released by the credible international organization Doctors Without Borders, on both the use of chemical weapons and the deaths of hundreds of civilians— and following the intensifying pressure from many nations in the international community upon Assad’s regime— Iranian senior military generals, commanders, members of parliament and Iranian lawmakers publicly issued clear threats and warnings to the United States and its allies on Tuesday. Iranian leaders reiterated their political position on Syria as a non-negotiable issue, adding that any military strike on the Syrian government would not only lead to a retaliatory attack on Tel Aviv, but would also engulf the entire region. 

According to Iranian leaders, the United States and its allies will encounter “the flames of outrage” and “perilous consequences” from Tehran and Damascus if they carry out military strikes against the Syrian government.

The Iranian leadership’s latest remarks indicate that Tel Aviv would be the first casualty in this conflict, as a target of the response to any American led strike on Syria

Majid Rafizadeh

The Iranian leadership’s latest remarks indicate that Tel Aviv would be the first casualty in this conflict, as a target of the response to any American led strike on Syria. Afterwards, Iranian leaders would instigate as much conflict as possible by targeting the Gulf and the whole region. According to Hussein Sheikholeslam, the director general of the Iranian parliament’s International Affairs bureau and a senior Iranian lawmaker, the United States would not dare attack Syria, but if it does, “the Zionist regime will be the first victim.” On Monday, Sheikholeslam was quoted on Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency saying: “No military attack will be waged against Syria… Yet, if such an incident takes place, which is impossible, the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria.”

Iranian officials have also warned other Arab states and regional countries of the negative repercussion that they will encounter if they choose to join the United States. Mohammad Esmayeeli, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, cautioned other Arab countries in the region against allying with the west, claiming that Washington is not ready for a new military operation. Esmayeeli stated, “the U.S, as well as the western and Arab states and certain regional countries are beating on the drums of war, but they should know that this is not to their benefit.”

More fundamentally, Iranian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi solidified Iran’s stance under Hassan Rowhani’s presidency by emphasizing that Iran is resolved and determined to defend Syria and Assad’s apparatuses. Araghchi stated in a news conference in Tehran: “We want to strongly warn against any military attack in Syria. There will definitely be perilous consequences for the region,” adding, “these complications and consequences will not be restricted to Syria. It will engulf the whole region.” Contrastingly, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of the Republican Guards’ elite Basij paramilitary force, shrugged off any potential Western military response, stating that “[the Americans] are incapable of starting a new war in the region, because of their lacking economic capabilities and their lack of morale.”

What kind of military operations?

Militarily speaking, the office of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Leaders, Iran’s intelligence Ettela’at, the militia group Basij and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps have outlined Iran’s several capabilities in conducting various operations. Primarily, Iran can directly launch missiles— including the Shahab ballistic missiles— on Tel Aviv. Additionally, as the Iranians have provided Assad’s army with these technologies, missiles, and weapons, they have the ability to order Assad to strike Israel in the case of an American strike on Damascus. 

Geopolitically, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have argued that they can shut the Strait of Hormuz and target American navy ships and destroyers. Furthermore, Iranian ruling clerics can target countries that join any military operations against Assad, aiming to alienate them politically from the region. Finally, Tehran can make use of Hezbollah as a tool to instigate violence and conflict in the Levant.

The more crucial issue, though, is that whether the Islamic Republic of Iran is realistically and truly intending to strike Tel Aviv and other regional Arab countries. 

By analyzing Tehran’s isolated geopolitical position in the region and in the international arena, it becomes more obvious that Iran’s warnings against Israel, the United States, and other Arab countries are merely political rhetoric. The key objective of the Iranian ruling cleric is to maintain their power. Any strike against Israel, the United States Navy, or Arab countries would be political suicide for Iranian leaders.

The latest threats from Tehran have once more reinforced the international community’s stance on Iran’s nuclear program; that a nuclear Iran is the red line.