Former Jordanian minister slams Iranian intervention in Syria, criticizes Arab passivity

Former Jordanian Information Minister Saleh al-Qallab warned of the danger of Iranian intervention in Syria and
slammed the passivity of several Arab countries that have yet to take a firm stance against the Syrian regime.

Qallab’s criticism came in response to statements made earlier by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad where he expressed his satisfaction with the way Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is dealing with the revolution.

“These statements confirm that what is happening in Syria is an Iranian war and that all the victims were actually killed by Iran,” he told Al Arabiya.

Qallab argued that the Syrian regime, and not the Syrian people, is what Iran cares about and that statements on the Syrian revolution by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirm this.

“Lavrov said that the revolution aims at installing a Sunni regime and this is Iran’s worst fear and that is why it is supporting the Syrian regime.”
The survival of the Syrian regime, Qallab added, does not only serve Iran’s interests, but Israel’s too.

“If the toppling of the Syrian regime was in Israel’s interest, the United States would have intervened and the same applies to Russia.”

Qallab expressed his surprise the Ahmadinejad is not aware of this link between the survival of the Syrian regime and the security of Israel.

“Looks like the Iranian president is totally isolated since apparently he did hear what Ramy Makhlouf, Assad’s cousin and one of the Syrian regime’s most prominent figures, when he said that the security of Syria is inseparable from that of Israel.”

Qallab said that there have been reports about a Syrian-Israeli-Russian intelligence meeting in which Israel pledged to put more pressure on Obama to refrain from intervening in Syria.

“With U.S. presidential elections drawing close, the Jewish lobby will dissuade Obama from acting against Assad’s regime.”

For Qallab, the Iranian president is not concerned with Israel at the moment, but is rather more occupied with the revival of the Persian project and the expansion of Iranian influence all over the Arab world.

Qallab lashed out at Arab states that do not seem to be aware of that fact and that are, consequently, quite passive in the way they deal with the Syrian crisis.

“Many Arab countries do not realize that the clampdown on Syrian revolutionaries is part of an Iranian war in the region. This war is also supported by Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi militias in Yemen. The abduction of a Saudi diplomat in Yemen could possibly be linked to Iran.”

According to Qallab, some Arab countries are actually supporting the Iranian project owing to the way it serves its interests without realizing the consequences.

“Arabs who support Iran now need to know that very soon it will be their turn for Iran plans to subjugate the entire region. They have to realize that the triumph of the Syrian revolution is to their best interest and not the other way round.”

Support for Iran, Qallab noted, is not necessarily based on sectarian grounds, for many Arab Shiites are against Iran and its ambitions in the region.