Jahangirzadeh voiced the view of the Islamic Republic’s toward the Syrian crisis in an interview with the Iranian weekly magazine, Mosalas.
According to him, the Islamic Republic of Iran underlines that the collapse of Syrian regime would deliver a heavy blow to the region’s resistance front against Israel. Iran is not totally approved of actions taken by the Syrian government and suggests that reforms in the Arabian republic are necessary and unavoidable.
The Iranian officials almost believe that Syrian crisis was rooted in people's demands and seeking freedom, however the spread of popular uprisings which began more than a year ago in the Arab world to Syria was not expected by many [including Iranian] analysts.
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. 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 in the region.
What was the purpose of Mr. Ali Larijani [Iran's Majlis speaker] to some countries in the Middle East such as Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon?
That was a regional tour obviously aimed to boost relations with the neighboring countries. The first destination was Syria which has a key strategic importance in Iran's ties with the countries in the region.
Iran has believed reform and development in any country cannot be achieved by force. In the case of Syria a mistake was made from the side of the West and some Middle Eastern countries which intend to topple the Syrian regime. The West aims to tumble down Assad’s government and weaken the axis of resistance in the region.
But the transfer of power would possibly lead to chaos and crisis, enabling the more extremist factions including Salafis and Al Qaeda to rule over the country, a possibility which is not approved by the West. Therefore, the prospect of regime change in Syria has potential benefits for the U.S. but at the same time poses considerable risks.
Concerning the present condition, what was the positive point of the visits?
Visiting Syria, Mr. Larijani personally met Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian Parliament Speaker to upgrade parliamentary relations with the Arabian republic particularly on the issue of security in the region. Regarding the current situation Mr. Assad was advised to implement reforms and prepare the ground for the Syrian people to elect their leader and lawmakers in a democratic manner. By such policy, Syria wouldn’t let regional and international players to interfere in its domestic affairs.
By backing the opposition forces, what goal the countries against the regime of Bashar al-Assad want to achieve?
They seemingly think that in the absence of Assad they would have more tranquility. But I believe the process of development in Syria is not predictable and it's not clear who would take power in the country, a democratic government would run the country or those which impose more pressures and limitations on people.
Regarding the approach of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Syria, what did issues of discussion with Syrian top officials?
The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the collapse of Syrian regime would deliver a heavy blow to the region’s resistance front against Israel. Iran is not totally approved of actions taken by the Syrian government and suggests that reforms in the Arabian republic are necessary and unavoidable. We echoed all these views, moreover we are certain that the fall of Syrian regime will seriously challenge the security condition of the Middle East.
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