A senior Iranian official warned the United States against direct military intervention against the Syrian Army, saying such a move would amount to “suicide” for the American forces.
Speaking on Sunday, Ali Akbar Velayati added that the Syrian nation can fight back potential American aggression.
“It is almost six years that the people of Syria have been resisting the interference of foreigners, especially the westerners, with the US at the top,” Velayati was quoted as saying by Press TV.
“The Syrian nation has the capability of withstanding US military intervention.”
A foreign-backed militancy has been going on in Syria since March 2011, with a plethora of armed groups fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Recently, there has been talk of a scenario in which the US would directly target the Syrian Army.
Suicidal Action
Velayati, who is a foreign policy adviser to the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said the US has suffered a defeat in military campaigns both in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a third adventure in Syria would hand Washington its third defeat.
“If the Americans take military action in Syria, it will be a suicidal action; and their third [military] defeat in the region after Afghanistan and Iraq will be a stronger defeat,” he said.
So far, the US has been providing military hardware to and sharing intelligence with what it calls “moderate” militants fighting the Syrian government. Despite a recent case in which the US directly targeted Syrian soldiers, which it said happened by mistake, Washington has refrained from direct military involvement against the Syrian Army.
US President Barack Obama earlier stated that involvement in another Middle East war was harmful to US interests. His reluctance to invade Syria, despite numerous past threats, has angered a number of Arab states opposed to President Assad.
Recently, however, militant sources claimed the US was resolved to prevent the fall of the Syrian city of Aleppo, a bastion of anti-Damascus militants that is the target of an ongoing Syrian and Russian campaign for liberation.
The US State Department recently warned that it would be considering the suspension of “bilateral engagement” with Russia in Syria unless Moscow took “immediate steps to end the assault on Aleppo”.
Iran has been offering Syria advisory military help. Russia, another Syrian ally, has been conducting an aerial bombardment campaign against militant positions in Syria on the request of Damascus.
