(Ha'aretz) Avi Issacharoff - A senior Israeli source says Iran is involved in the suppressing of the anti-regime demonstrations in Syria. Iran's Revolutionary Guard and the Al-Quds force, commanded by Gen. Qassem Suleimani, are operating throughout Syria. Iran has also supplied equipment to the Syrian army, including sniper rifles and communications systems for disrupting the Internet. The Revolutionary Guard organized the demonstrations against Israel on the Golan Heights as part of the events on Nakba Day on May 15 and Naksa Day on June 5. "The Revolutionary Guard organized the busing that was required to transfer the demonstrators to the border. The initiative was not Syrian. However, the Syrian army approved the transfer of the buses to the border. On Nakba Day they [the Iranians] were also involved in the demonstrations in Lebanon," the source said. "The background to the riots that broke out in the Yarmuk refugee camp the day after the demonstrations on the Golan Heights was largely the failure to pay the money that had been promised to the participants: $1,000 for each participant and $10,000 for anyone who became a 'martyr' - killed in the demonstrations," the source said. "Hundreds took part in the demonstration because they had not been paid." The source said the likelihood of similar demonstrations on the Israel-Syria border in the near future is low. The source believes the process that will end the Assad regime is irreversible. "In the end, certain senior officers in the Syrian army - Sunnis - will reach an agreement with senior Alawi officers, providing sufficient security guarantees for the Alawi community. They will find a political solution that will extricate the country from the crisis and remove President Bashar Assad from power."
2011-06-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive