U.S. Has New Evidence That Iran And Hezbollah Are Now Involved In Syria's Civil War

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (L) chats with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) while on their way to an official dinner in Damascus on February 25, 2010. (Reuters)

New Evidence Of Iran Support To Assad, While Congress Moves To Arm Rebels -- ABC News

The United States has new evidence that Iran and Hezbollah have direct involvement with the Syrian regime, a senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State John Kerry in Oman.

The official said that, according to the Free Syrian Army, Hezbollah and Iranian fighters have been helping the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad in Qusayr, near the opposition stronghold city of Homs.

“It is the most visible effort we have seen of Hezbollah to engage directly in the fighting in Syria as a foreign force. We understand there are also Iranians up there,” the official said. “This is an important thing to note — the direct implication of foreigners fighting on Syrian soil now for the regime.”

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My Comment: Iran and Hezbollah cannot hide their involvement in Syria anymore. They had to intervene a few weeks ago when it became clear that the Syrian regime's momentum had shifted to the rebels, and that Shiite holy sites were being desecrated by Syria's rebels.

U.S. State Department Official: Iranian Soldiers Fighting In Syria

Supporters of Hezbollah and relatives of Hasan Faisal Sheker, an 18-year-old Hezbollah member, carry the coffin during his funeral in Nabi Sheet near Baalbeck May 20, 2013. About 30 Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and 20 Syrian soldiers and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been killed in the fiercest fighting this year in the rebel stronghold of Qusair, Syrian activists said on Monday.

Image by: STRINGER / REUTERS

State Dept. Official: Iranian Soldiers Are Fighting For Assad In Syria -- Washington Post

MUSCAT, Oman — Iran has sent soldiers to Syria to fight alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia, a senior State Department official said Tuesday.

An unknown number of Iranians are fighting inside Syria, the official said, citing accounts from opposition forces supported by Western and Arab governments. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview a strategy session that Secretary of State John F. Kerry will hold Wednesday with key opposition supporters.

Syrian rebels have claimed for weeks that Iran is sending trained fighters to the Syrian civil war, and Iran-backed Hezbollah has said baldly that it will not let Assad fall.

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My Comment: If true .... this foreign intervention from Iran and Hezbollah will only mean one thing .... it's going to be a very bloody summer in Syria.

Iran's Growing Role In The Syrian Civil War

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi (L) holds talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. (File photo)

Iran Warns Of Regional Chaos In Post-Assad Era -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister warned on Tuesday of unforeseeable consequences if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was toppled and said only a political settlement to Syria's civil war would avoid a regional conflagration.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran is Assad's closest ally and has provided money, weapons, intelligence and training for his forces against a mainly Sunni Muslim uprising in which more than 70,000 people have been killed in two years, by a U.N. estimate.

"God forbid, if there is any vacuum in Syria, these negative consequences will affect all countries ... No one knows what will happen," Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters during a rare visit to Jordan.

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More News On Iran's Involvement In The Syrian Civil War

Iran warns Syria strife will engulf region -- Gulf News
Iran Warns Syrian Rebels After Report of Shrine Desecration -- New York Times
Iran ready to ‘train’ Syrian army forces, says commander -- Al Arabiya
Iran sends Army into Syria: Revolutionary Guards to help Assad as Israel bombs capital -- Mirror
Iraqi death hints of Iran's role in Syrian crisis -- AP
Iran's FM arrives in Syria for meeting Assad -- Xinhuanet
Iran FM Salehi hold talks with President Assad in Damascus -- Press TV (Iran)
Iran FM: Arabs should respond to Israeli strikes -- AP
Israeli airstrike in Syria brings Iran onstage, raising risk of proxy war -- Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor
Iran Cannot Afford to Lose Syria -- Arutz Sheva editorial

Iran: Attack On Syria Is Attack On Us

Khamenei's aide Ali Akbar Velayati with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, January 14, 2012. Photo: REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

Iran Issues Threatening Warning Against Attack On Syria -- L.A. Times

A top Iranian official's comments come as the first NATO-deployed Patriot missile batteries are declared operational along Turkey's border with Syria.

BEIRUT — Any foreign attack on Syria would be considered an attack on Iran, a senior Iranian official warned Saturday as the first Patriot missile batteries were declared operational along Turkey's tense border with Syria.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's decision to deploy six Patriot missile batteries in Turkish borderlands has rankled the Syrian government and its chief allies, Iran and Russia.

Tehran and Moscow view the move as a provocation that could escalate hostilities and widen the almost 2-year-old Syrian conflict. About 400 troops from the United States, Germany and the Netherlands are expected to accompany the Patriot batteries.

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More News On Iran`s Declaration That An Attack On Syria Is An Attack On Iran

Iran Official: Attack on Syria Is Attack on Us -- ABC News
Khamenei aide: Attack on Syria is an attack on Iran -- Jerusalem Post/Reuters
Iranian Official Warns Against Attack On Syria -- Radio Free Europe
Attacking Syria tantamount to attacking Iran: Iranian official -- Global Post
Iran: An attack on Syria would be an attack on Tehran -- Al Bawaba
Ayatollah: Attacking Syria Would Mean War With Iran -- Policymic
Attack on Syria, strike against Iran, allies: Velayati -- Hamsayeh.net

My Comment: Iran is clearly worried on what is happening in Syria. These remarks are also an indication to me that Iran is laying the groundwork to justify greater involvement and intervention in the Syrian civil war.

A Warning From Iran On The Syrian Civil War

Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2nd R) review the guard of honour in Damascus January 19, 2006. Photo by Reuters

Former Iranian President: 'Slim' Chances Assad Regime Will Survive Syria Civil War -- Haaretz

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani says Islamic Republic must safeguard Syria, warns of serious implications 'if the link between Iran and Lebanon is severed.'

Former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said last week that the chances the Syrian regime will survive the current civil war are "slim." Rafsanjani, chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran (one of the most important councils in the Islamic Republic) said in a meeting with Iraqi delegates that he was worried about the implications a collapse of the Syrian regime may have on the situation in Iraq and elsewhere.

"Syria must not be a factor blocking our way," he said. "We must safeguard Syria. If the chain between Iran and Lebanon is severed there will be serious ramifications."

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My Comment: The Iranians are seeing the handwriting on the wall. It appears that they are now accepting the possibility that Assad will be driven out of power in 2013 or early 2014, and are now issuing the necessary threats as well as signaling to their allies in the region (Hezbollah in Lebanon being one of them) that they will not be abandoned by Iran.

Is Iran Deserting Assad?

Did Iran Just Dump Assad? -- Blake Hounshell, Foreign Policy

Iran's Mehr News on Sunday published the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' "six-point plan" to supposedly solve the crisis in Syria.

The plan goes much further than Iran has publicly in the past, though it resembles Kofi Annan's much-maligned plan from the spring. It also doesn't mention one key point: What happens to Bashar al-Assad?

Here's where it gets more interesting. Apparently, Syrian vice president Farouk al-Sharaa has given an interview to Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper, which has generally taken a neutral line or one sympathetic to Assad. “We must be in the position of defending Syria’s existence. We are not in a battle for the survival of an individual or a regime," Sharaa reportedly said. Now which individual could he be talking about?

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Update: Iran backs Syria presidential election, halt to arms shipments as parts of peace bid -- Washington Post/AP

My Comment: The details of Iran’s 6-point proposal on Syria can be read here .... and I do not see it as a "desertion" of Assad. What I see instead is an attempt to save the Assad regime as the rebels continue to gain strength and more military victories.

Is Iran Abandoning Syria?

Photo: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

Is Iran Abandoning Syria? -- Jerusalem Post

'The Sunday Times' reports Iran has withdrawn 275 members of elite brigade from Syria in face of domestic economic crisis.

Iran has withdrawn 275 members of its elite Qods Force from Syria in the face of its domestic economic crisis, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

The members belong to a brigade known as Unit 400, which fought alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad against Sunni rebels, the report quoted a western intelligence officer as saying. According to The Times, the unit flew out of Syria last week. The report added that the information was confirmed by a relative of a Unit 400 officer.

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Update #1: Report: Iran pulls elite army unit from Syria in wake of Tehran protests -- Haaretz
Update #2: Report: Iran withdraws troops from Syria -- YNet News
Update #3: Tehran pulls unit as Syria row grows -- The Australian

My Comment: This is an ominous sign for Assad.

Iran Has Given The Syrian Regime $10 Billion To Help Fund The Civil War

Iran Reported To Have Given Syrian Regime Up To $10 Billion -- Business Insider

Today, Iran's currency plummeted to an all-time low: 32,500 rial to the dollar. The hyperinflation is thought to be the result of oil sanctions that could lose the resource-rich nation $50 billion in revenue this year.

Yet reports coming out today say they also are giving billions to the Assad regime in Syria to help fund the civil war — up to $10 billion according to the Times of London.

Huh?

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My Comment: After what happened today .... this aid may be drying up.

Iran's Syrian Conference Is An Attempt To Keep Assad In Power

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili attends a news conference at the Iranian embassy in Damascus August 7, 2012, after his meeting with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. (photo by REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri)

Analysis: Iran Seeks To Save Pivotal Syrian Ally -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Iran, dismayed at the plight of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is seeking to shore him up and counter a perceived drive by Western and U.S.-aligned Sunni Muslim nations to roll back its own power in the Middle East.

A hastily-convened conference in Tehran on Thursday looked like an attempt by the Islamic Republic to forge a coalition of friendly countries opposed to Western and Arab support for rebels determined to end four decades of Assad family rule.

Iran, handed geostrategic windfalls in the past decade by Washington's elimination of two of its main enemies, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan, now fears the pendulum of regional influence could swing the other way.

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My Comment: Iran is vowing to preserve the 'axis of resistance', telling anyone who would listen that an abrupt Assad fall would be "catastrophic". Skeptics on the Iranian conference on Syria have an alternative point of view.

UN: Iran Continues To Ship Arms To Syria

Iran Supplying Syria With Arms Despite UN Sanctions: Panel -- National Post

Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation of a UN Security Council ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic, according to a confidential report on Iran sanctions-busting seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Iran, like Russia, is one of Syria’s few allies as it presses ahead with a 14-month old assault on opposition forces determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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More News On Iran Continuing To Ship Arms To Syria

Iran still shipping arms to Syria, UN report finds -- The Telegraph
Diplomat: UN experts report Syria continues to be main destination of illicit Iranian weapons -- Washington Post/AP
UN Experts: Iran Sending Arms to Syria, Violating Sanctions -- Voice of America
Iran Continues Illicit Arms Sales To Syria, U.N. Report Finds -- International Business Times

Iranian Weapons Are Helping Bashar Assad To Put Down The Syrian Rebellion

Iranian Weapons Help Bashar Assad Put Down Syria Protests, Officials Say -- MSNBC

WASHINGTON -- Iran is providing a broad array of assistance to Syrian President Bashar Assad to help him suppress anti-government protests, from high-tech surveillance technology to guns and ammunition, U.S. and European security officials say.

Tehran's technical assistance to Assad's security forces includes electronic surveillance systems, technology designed to disrupt efforts by protesters to communicate via social media, and Iranian-made drone aircraft for overhead surveillance, the officials said. They discussed intelligence matters on condition of anonymity.

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My Comment: In response to Iran's support of Syrian dictator Assad, U.S. officials are pressuring Iraq to block Iranian air-flights to Syria .... or to at least inspect the cargoes. But for the moment .... the Iraqis are remaining silent on this issue or countering that they do not permit Iranian arms to over-fly their country.

Has Iraq Decided To Aid President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian Regime?

Iran And Syria 'Lay Ambitious Plans For Road, Rail, Air And Electricity Links' -- The Telegraph

Iran has thrown Syria an economic lifeline by laying ambitious plans for road, rail, air and even electricity links between the two countries, according to official records of high level talks in Damascus.

Two documents purporting to be notes of meetings between President Bashar al-Assad's ministers and their Iranian counterparts have been obtained from the email accounts of Syrian officials and passed to the Daily Telegraph.

They provide further evidence of the immense effort Iran's regime is making to shore up Mr Assad, who serves as Tehran's only reliable ally in the Middle East. All the plans outlined in the documents require the cooperation of Iraq, which would have to allow its territory to be used as a corridor between Syria and Iran.

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My Comment: The part of this report that caught my attention was the following ....

.... All the plans outlined in the documents require the cooperation of Iraq, which would have to allow its territory to be used as a corridor between Syria and Iran.

The documents appear to take Iraqi endorsement for granted, suggesting that Baghdad's government has quietly chosen to join Iran and help Mr Assad.

No one is talking about it .... but from where I stand .... the Sunni nightmare scenario of a Shiite alliance involving Hezbolah in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran .... this is all now taking shape.

The Growing Iran-Syria Military Alliance

Iran Agrees To Fund Syrian Military Base -- The Telegraph

Iran has agreed to fund a new multi-million-dollar military base on the Syrian coast to make it easier to ship weapons and other military hardware between the two countries, according to Western intelligence reports.



Under the terms of the deal, which was concluded after a high-level Syrian delegation visited Tehran, Iran is to assist with the development of a new military compound at Latakia airport which will be completed by the end of next year. The aim of the agreement is to open a supply route that will enable Iran to transfer military hardware directly to Syria.



Western security officials say the deal was agreed following a visit to Tehran in June by Muhammad Nasif Kheirbek, Syria's deputy vice-president for security affairs and an ally of President Bashar al-Assad.



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My Comment: Syria is playing a pivotal role in expanding Iranian influence. This new base is only an extension of this influence.