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Iran accuses Turkey of serving Israeli, U.S. interests in Syria
June 2, 2012 - 20:30 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - A top military aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei on Saturday, June 2 accused Ankara, Riyadh and Doha of
serving U.S. and Israeli interests in Syria, in a veiled warning to
Turkey of worsening ties, AFP reports.
"The Americans, Israelis, and some European and Persian Gulf nations,
in particular Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have delegated to Turkey the
task of achieving their goal to weaken or topple Bashar al-Assad's
government or make it surrender," Fars news agency quoted General
Yahya Rahim Safavi as saying.
"Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are acting in the interests of the
U.S. and the Zionists to weaken the resistance axis comprising Iran,
Syria and Hezbollah," said the former Revolutionary Guards commander.
He was referring to the Shiite armed militia in Syria's neighbor
Lebanon, dubbed by Tehran's nemesis Washington as a terrorist
organization.
Syria, whose government is Tehran's key Middle East ally, has been
engulfed in a 15-month crisis in which the United Nations says more
than 10,000 people have been killed. Syrian activists put the death
toll at more than 13,000.
Calling Turkey "a strategic competitor of Iran," Rahim Safavi said
that Iran-Turkey relations are still "good."
But in a veiled warning, he added: "We hope that America and the
Zionists will not be able to disrupt relations" between Tehran and
Ankara.
For the past two years, Turkey has acted as an intermediary between
Iran and world powers on the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear
program of uranium enrichment.
Tehran denies Western allegations that its atomic ambitions include a
covert weapons project.
But Turkey's position on Syria, with Ankara calling on Assad to step
down to end the bloody strife there, has soured bilateral relations
for several months.
Syria's opposition has accused Iran of supplying weapons and military
aid to Damascus, while Tehran makes the same allegations against the
West and the Gulf monarchies, accusing them of arming the rebels with
Ankara's help.
Tehran has repeatedly voiced its backing for international envoy Kofi
Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria, calling it the only way to end
the crisis, while Gulf nations have condemned Damascus's deadly
crackdown.
June 2, 2012 - 20:30 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - A top military aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei on Saturday, June 2 accused Ankara, Riyadh and Doha of
serving U.S. and Israeli interests in Syria, in a veiled warning to
Turkey of worsening ties, AFP reports.
"The Americans, Israelis, and some European and Persian Gulf nations,
in particular Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have delegated to Turkey the
task of achieving their goal to weaken or topple Bashar al-Assad's
government or make it surrender," Fars news agency quoted General
Yahya Rahim Safavi as saying.
"Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are acting in the interests of the
U.S. and the Zionists to weaken the resistance axis comprising Iran,
Syria and Hezbollah," said the former Revolutionary Guards commander.
He was referring to the Shiite armed militia in Syria's neighbor
Lebanon, dubbed by Tehran's nemesis Washington as a terrorist
organization.
Syria, whose government is Tehran's key Middle East ally, has been
engulfed in a 15-month crisis in which the United Nations says more
than 10,000 people have been killed. Syrian activists put the death
toll at more than 13,000.
Calling Turkey "a strategic competitor of Iran," Rahim Safavi said
that Iran-Turkey relations are still "good."
But in a veiled warning, he added: "We hope that America and the
Zionists will not be able to disrupt relations" between Tehran and
Ankara.
For the past two years, Turkey has acted as an intermediary between
Iran and world powers on the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear
program of uranium enrichment.
Tehran denies Western allegations that its atomic ambitions include a
covert weapons project.
But Turkey's position on Syria, with Ankara calling on Assad to step
down to end the bloody strife there, has soured bilateral relations
for several months.
Syria's opposition has accused Iran of supplying weapons and military
aid to Damascus, while Tehran makes the same allegations against the
West and the Gulf monarchies, accusing them of arming the rebels with
Ankara's help.
Tehran has repeatedly voiced its backing for international envoy Kofi
Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria, calling it the only way to end
the crisis, while Gulf nations have condemned Damascus's deadly
crackdown.