MP: Iran’s Resolute Support for Syria Foiled US Action
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A ranking Iranian legislator said Tehran’s unwavering support for the Syrian government made the US think twice about taking military action against Damascus.
“Iran’s serious steadfastness in supporting Syria discouraged Americans from attacking (Syria),” Abbas Mansouri Arani, who sits on Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told Tasnim on Saturday.
He also added that Washington’s decision to step back from a military action against Syria was the result of two leading deterrent factors: the Syrian nation and its leadership determined to defend their country, and the influence of regional powers like Iran, which is “an influential and leading power in the Muslim world and the Middle East,” as well as Russia and China.
The US had been pressing for military action on Syria since a suspected chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21, which it blamed on the forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The government of Syria has denied involvement and said the rebels were responsible.
US President Barack Obama, however, stopped short of ordering a strike recently and said he would seek the endorsement of Congress for any assault on Syria.
But a proposal by Russia, one of Damascus's main international supporters, to put Syria's chemical weapons arsenal under international control made US President Barack Obama hold off on striking Syria and helped him avoid an embarrassing rejection from Congress, or a military action detested by the public.
