Speaking to Khabar Online, a senior analyst and researcher of the Middle Eastern issues Mohammed Ali Mohtadi described the origins of the current crisis in Syria as follows:
The spread of popular uprisings- began more than a year ago in the Arab world- to Syria was not expected by many [including Iranian] analysts and as the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had stressed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, they generally believed that Syria would not be the scene of a new uprising in the fashion of the Arab Spring, since that country is an axis of resistance against Israel which had protected its regime from people’s rebellion.
Although Syrian crisis was rooted in people's demands and seeking freedom, now it is deeply influenced by foreign powers. At the moment we see Salafis, Takfiris and Al Qaeda in the front against the Syrian government. Moreover, paramilitary groups from different parts of the world from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan to even Chechen and Libya are joining the army of opposition groups in a fight against the Syrian regime.
In the meantime, the Western intelligence services above them MI6 of the UK and Mossad of Israel aligned with the Turkish intelligence service are pushing the unrest in Syria toward ethnic clashes between Shiites and Sunnis. It should be noted that many Sunni-populated regions are against the Syrian turmoil.
From the outset, the uprising began in the city of Dara’a was not meant for freedom or human rights, because such concepts have not played a key role in tribal regions. As matter of fact, the damages made to the dignity of the tribes’ chiefs by the government caused people to suffer from a sense of humiliation and in a bid to restore their honor, hold tough protests. The rebellionof Dara’a was indeed used by several countries including Qatar and Saudi Arabia which came to the scene and backed opposition groups which added fuel to the fire. At the same time, international TV channels above them Al Jazeera which cannot be called a media organization but the “spider empire” attempted to push the crisis to their desired track.
Undoubtedly, at the beginning the Syrian uprising was a popular movement. On the other hand, it's undeniable that in the government of Bashar al-Assad, Syrian people suffer from some social and political pressures. Coming to power after his father, Bashar al-Assad made efforts to execute some reforms, but the centers of power in Syria in a way thwarted his plans. In Dara’a, a type of tribal tradition is still practiced and the violent crack down of people there rise their pride.
Before Syria, all the popular uprisings in the Arab world were against the regimes whose foreign policies were in line with those of the United States policies in the region. Leaders of these countries including Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisia), Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Ali Abdullah Saleh (Yemen) and Al Khalifa family (Bahrain) were taking actions in line with the American and Israeli tendencies in the Middle East.
However, Syrian government made a strategic mistake in Dara’a and as the security forces tried arrogantly to crush the popular revolt, they actually stirred up the revolt which later turned into an armed struggle.
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