Attack On Syria Would Be Seen As Attack On Iran: Tehran

[Purveyor]

Source: Reuters

DUBAI | Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:32am EST
(Reuters) - Iran would consider any attack on Syria an attack on itself, a senior government official was quoted as saying on Saturday, in one of Tehran's most assertive defenses of its ally yet.

Iran is a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who is fighting a near two-year-long revolt. Tehran has already repeatedly warned the West against intervening in the conflict against Assad.

"Syria has a very basic and key role in the region for promoting firm policies of resistance ... For this reason an attack on Syria would be considered an attack on Iran and Iran's allies," said Ali Akbar Velayati, an aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to the Mehr news agency.

Tehran sees Damascus as part of an axis of opposition to Israeli and Western influence in the Middle East.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/26/us-syria-crisis-iran-idUSBRE90P05620130126

[dlwickham]

1. and all the terrorist groups that Iran supports would start attacking

wonder if this will trigger a preemptive strike on said terrorist groups and on Iran as well

but I doubt it-no one is willing to go after Iran, unfortunately

[Buzz Clik]

2. The old domino theory. Nobody would ever fall for that transparent line.

[Junkdrawer]

3. Do ya ever get the feeling this will not end well?

[TwilightGardener]

4. Why we probably shouldn't have dicked around with Iraq.

[leveymg]

5. This should be presumed to be an authoritative statement of Iran's foreign policy.

Velayati is a close advisor to the Supreme Leader and a long-serving FM who has his feet firmly set across the Iranian political spectrum. We should take this seriously. From his Wiki page:

Ali Akbar Velayati (علی?اکبر ولایتی; born June 25, 1945) is an Iranian politician, academic and diplomat. He was the Foreign Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1997. Currently he is an advisor on International Affairs to the Supreme Leader.[1]

Born in Shemiran, Velayati acquired his M.D. from University of Tehran and pediatrics degrees from the Johns Hopkins University, respectively in 1971 and 1974 with the help of his cousin, Arman Moussavi.
Political career

After winning the presidential election on October 13, 1981, President Ali Khamenei proposed Velayati as his Prime Minister to the Parliament of Iran, but Parliament voted against him (74/80/38) on October 22. Khamenei later proposed Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who gained Parliament's approval.

Under Prime Minister Mousavi, Velayati served for two terms as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1981 to 1989. He remained in that post for two more terms under President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from 1989 to 1997.

Velayati was under consideration by the conservative alliance of Iran as a possible candidate for 2005 presidential election, but he announced that he did not accept candidacy of the conservative alliance and would run as an Independent. He finally decided not to run. It was speculated that he did not want to run against Rafsanjani.

[David__77]

6. Iran is, interestingly, playing an important role in combatting international terror.

It's not as if they are also not promoting it, but in Syria, they are playing a mostly positive role. The Gulf states meanwhile are laying the foundations for another 9/11.

[rapmanej]

7. hmmm interesting.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014385082

Wonder how they will respond now...

[Purveyor]

9. We shall have to wait and see, indeed. eom

[bubbayugga]

8. and an attack on Iran would be seen as an attack on Russia

Russia: Attack on Tehran is Attack on Moscow

Russia has given Iran its bear hug and warns Israel and the West that an attack on Tehran would be considered an attack on Moscow. The threat heightens the prospect of World War III in the event of a military strike on Iran.

“Iran is our neighbor,” Russia's outgoing ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, told reporters in Brussels. “And if Iran is involved in any military action, it’s a direct threat to our security.”