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Iran to Syria: Time to Pay Us Back
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lt.-Col. (ret.) Michael Segall - Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, during a recent visit to Syria and upon his return to Iran, leveled criticism over the treatment Iran receives from Syria, particularly over its disregard for paying its many debts to Iran. He complained that Iranian aid given to the Syrian government during the war was funds pulled "out of the throats of the Iranian people," and Syria must pay back these funds in the form of preferential treatment to Iranian companies bidding on rehabilitation projects in Syria. Falahatpisheh also revealed impatience with Russian military operations in Syria and the "abandonment" of Iranian forces. Falahatpisheh stated after Israel's recent attack that Russia did not activate the S-300 anti-aircraft defense system during the raids. This, he said, comes from "apparent coordination between Russia and Israel."