(Jerusalem Post) Aviram Bellaishe - The Iranian propaganda machine is working fast to formulate an explanatory narrative for its decision not to intervene in Syria. The first step is to blame Assad's regime for "not firing a single shot at the Zionist regime for half a century." On Dec. 8, the Iranian foreign minister declared that "the Iranian forces were in Syria to fight the Islamic State - and with the end of the fighting returned to Iran." Militarily, Iran was not in a condition to help Assad - after senior IRGC officers in Syria were killed in targeted attacks attributed to Israel, with Hizbullah unable to send reinforcements, with Israel preventing Iranian planes from reaching Syria, and amid attacks on the Iraqi militias by the Americans. A well-known social-media figure affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards said, "With the removal of Hizbullah from the game and of the Iranian regime from Syria, the resistance project is now at a standstill. Iran must completely rethink its defense doctrine. This is the end of the road." Iran is working on a transition to a new rhetoric in which the Syrian rebels are a new proxy objective. Instead of "terrorists," Iran now calls them "Islamist resisters." The aim is to preserve a route to Hizbullah for arms transfers, something analysts in Iran say is "not impossible." The writer, vice president for strategy, security, and communications at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, has served in senior government positions for over 25 years.
2024-12-15 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive