ˈIran Dailyˈ Reflects On USˈs New Evil Plot For Syria

Tehran, Sept 16, IRNA - ˈIran Dailyˈ on Tuesday criticizing USˈs newly formed anti-ISIL alliance with some regional Arab states for the international coalition the US seeks to build against terrorism, noted observersˈ belief that the alliance is mainly aimed to remove Assad from power under the cover of fighting terrorism. Moreover, despite the alliance, doubts exist about a change in Saudi Arabia’s stance toward Takfiri groups, believed the English-language paper in its Opinion column. Given the religious, ethnic and political structure of the Arab kingdom, the country is a breeding ground for extremism. The Al Saud dynasty fully knows how much the country is prepared to nurture ISIL ideology and draw the youth to it. That’s why some analysts believe that Riyadh’s agreement to join the US-led coalition is tactical and thus temporary, underscored the paper. Washington’s opposition to include Tehran in its counter-terrorism alliance over its engagement with government in Damascus supports the theory that US has another agenda, to remove Assad from power, in that country under the guise of fighting terrorism. It seems the coalition is America’s Trojan horse to enter Syria without a mandate from the UN Security Council where two rival countries, namely Russia and China, have demonstrated full support for Assad, noted the daily. The anti-ISIL alliance reminds one of the saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, wrote the paper, noting that the US and Arab leaders have now turned their swords against ISIL, a Takfiri group they once helped raise and take power in Iraq and Syria. Efforts to defeat ISIL come at the time when the terrorist group has committed horrendous crimes including beheading, crucifixion, rape and mass murder, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims and minority groups in Iraq, condemned the daily. This is while the Islamic Republic of Iran from the outset raised the alarm over funding and arming Takfiri militants fighting the Syrian government by Western countries and their regional allies, saying such support could have undesirable consequences and jeopardize regional security, underscored the paper. Unfortunately, Western powers and their regional partners, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey, took hasty measures and exacerbated the crisis in Syria by providing financial, military and logistical support to militant groups, it pointed out. Western and Arab leaders thought that they would be able to maintain control over Syria armed groups but they failed to notice how ambitious ISIL commanders were. They just focused on their agenda which was to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, marginalize Iran as an influential regional player, and undermine the resistance front. To achieve these goals, they armed and financed Takfiris, added the daily. In Western think tanks, strategists drew up a plan that suggested the Syrian government will be brought down by these insurgent groups within a short period. But things took a different turn when they (the foreign-backed insurgency) met with a massive popular support for Assad that paved the way for inflicting heavy defeats on armed groups. Syrian army gains over Takfiri groups drove them largely out of the country into Iraq where they ganged up with remnants of the dissolved Baath party and overran a vast swathe of land in the north. ISIL perpetrated appalling atrocities against local people but the West turned a blind eye to them. Now, after the terrorists have killed American citizens and gained control of oil fields, they have suddenly begun to worry, concluded the paper./end