[Daily Star-Lebanon] Andrew Tabler - Today Syria is seen as an Iranian island in the Arab world - used to project its power to Israel's borders and the shores of the Mediterranean. Indeed, Iranian-Syrian relations seem closer than ever - including a newly signed military cooperation agreement. But Damascus' ties with Tehran - like its ties with all countries - remain ambiguous. A high-profile Iranian project to replace Damascus' aging public bus fleet with Iranian vehicles was mysteriously cancelled and awarded to a Chinese company. Two high-profile Iranian-Syrian joint ventures to assemble automobiles in Syria are barely scraping by due to Syrian government foot-dragging on promises to cut tariffs on the plants' imported components. Statistics recently released by Syria's state investment office put direct Iranian investment in Syria at $544 million, a mere 8% of Arab investment in Syria and a far cry from reports last year that estimated Iranian investment at 66% of Arab investment in the country.
2008-07-29 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive