Friday, August 10, 2012

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.

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