Iran's foreign minister traveled to Baghdad on Friday to meet with his Iraqi and Syrian counterparts to discuss how to deal with the burgeoning campaign by Sunni jihadists to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. I opened it.
According to Iranian state media, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stressed during his visit that the developments in Syria are of great concern to Iraq and could cause a spillover of militia violence into the country. Iraqi government spokesman Basim al-Awadi told Kurdish media outlet Rudaw on Friday that despite apparent pressure from Iran, President Assad remains committed to supporting the fight against rebel militias in the country. He said he had not asked Iraq to send military support and Baghdad had no intention of doing so. “Military intervention in Syria.”
Syria has been in a civil war since 2011, but there was almost a truce after the fall of Islamic State in 2017 and President Bashar al-Assad's successful campaign against Sunni rebels. But last week, fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an al-Qaeda-linked Sunni jihadist militia formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, seized Syria's second city, Aleppo. , the situation has changed dramatically. HTS followed up that campaign with what appeared to be a successful campaign. conquest On Thursday, another city, Hama, reported that jihadists were marching toward Homs following the victory.
Shortly after the Aleppo Offensive began, the Syrian National Army (SNA), a Sunni militia formerly known as the Free Syrian Army and currently operating primarily as a Turkish proxy, attacked Syrian Kurdish areas in the Aleppo metropolitan area. They started attacking the human community. The Turkish government considers the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia that helped the United States liberate the caliphate's “capital” of Raqqa from the Islamic State terrorist group, to keep the two countries together. We are actively supporting them. The fall of the Assad regime and attacks on the Kurdish community.
Iran, its Shiite proxies, and especially the Assad regime, have remained conspicuously silent about the fighting between the SNA and the Kurds. In Baghdad on Friday, Arakchi instead reiterated Iran's baseless claims that Israel and the United States were somehow behind the HTS attack and called for further global engagement in Assad's defense.
“Iran has always supported the Syrian government and people in the fight against terrorist groups and will continue to support it with all its might and whatever the Syrian government needs and requests,” Arakchi said. declaredThis was reported by Iranian news agency Tasnim News. He specifically singled out Iraq, Jordan and Turkey as the countries most likely to be affected by a new wave of terrorism if Assad's regime were to fall.
“To protect our own security, we must support the security of our neighbors in the fight against terrorism,” he demanded, stressing that “the Zionist role is important.” [Israel] Nothing should be overlooked in planning this conspiracy. ” As usual, he provided no specific allegations or evidence linking Israel to any of the events occurring in Syria.
Arakuchi too said Iran has said it is ready to send regular troops to Syria if necessary to protect Assad. Iran already has several Shiite jihadist proxy groups, most notably Hezbollah, operating on the Syrian front.
The Iraqi government has expressed concern about the situation in Syria, particularly that it could further destabilize the already fragile and fragmented Iraqi state. But unlike Iran, Baghdad on Friday backed away from the idea of sending troops to Syria.
“So far, the Syrian government has not requested military assistance from us, but they have informed us that their country is in a bad situation and warned us of the difficulties ahead,” government spokesman Basim al-Awadi said. he said. said Ludo. “We will not intervene militarily in Syria.”
Awadi noted that Iraq had sent “support forces.” According to reports this week, hundreds of troops from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an Iranian-backed coalition of Iraqi militias officially incorporated into the Iraqi army, have crossed into Syria to support Assad's forces.
Ludo too reported It revealed that separate units of the PMF and parts of the Iraqi army were approaching the Syrian border in anticipation of a possible escalation of hostilities beyond the Syrian border.
Iran is an enthusiastic supporter of Assad, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist government has given little support to the SNA, which has not directly attacked Assad but has targeted Kurdish forces. I'm not trying to hide it. However, President Erdogan appeared to speak to reporters on Friday in support of HTS.
“Idlib, Hama, Homs and, of course, the goal is Damascus. The march of the opposition continues. Our hope is that this march in Syria continues without incident,” Erdogan said. saidAccording to Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency.
He added that the government “made a call to President (Bashar al-Assad).” We said, “Come, let's decide together the future of Syria.” Unfortunately, this did not receive a positive response. ”
