Military Advisor Proposes Anti-US Regional Coalition

A top defense advisor to the Leader of Islamic Revolution called for the formation of a coalition with Russia, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan to confront the US alliance with Saudi Arabia and the Israeli regime.

“Iran should act wisely by forging a regional coalition which would involve Russia and Syria as well as Pakistan and Iraq to stand against the US-led coalition,” Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi told state TV on Tuesday.

Years of fighting against terrorist groups nourished by the United States and some of its regional allies cost Syria and Iraq, members of the so-called resistance axis, vast amounts of funds and other losses, Rahim Safavi said, adding, “This is what the US, Saudis and Israel wanted.”

The most notorious of those terrorist groups was the self-styled Islamic State that captured large swaths of the two war-torn Arab countries in a 2014 lightening attack and declared a caliphate.

But that self-proclaimed caliphate collapsed last month after the group lost its last strongholds.

Washington spearheads a campaign to support a patchwork of militant groups in their fighting to force Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who enjoys the backing of Iran and Russia, out of power.  

The US said on Jan 14 that it was working with its Syrian militia allies, the mainly Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, to set up a force that would operate along the borders with Turkey and Iraq, as well as within Syria.

  Plan to Fuel Conflicts

Rahim Safavi said the move is aimed at reinforcing US regional interests, which hinge on a continued conflict.

“The US decision to form a 30,000-strong force is meant to help the Kurds establish their own autonomous regions in southern Turkey and western Iraq,” the top commander said.

“The US main strategy in the current year is retaining and even expanding the zones of conflict in the region to serve its political, economic and military interests.”

The move further strained the US ties with its NATO ally Turkey, which regards the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the leading force within SDF, as a terrorist organization.

It prompted Ankara to launch an incursion into northern Syrian province of Afrin on Saturday to clear YPG forces from the area, in what met Tehran’s criticism.

“The Turks are aligned with the Americans and Zionists in their overall strategy and their disputes are mostly of a tactical nature,” Rahim Safavi said.

Ankara launched a joint initiative with Tehran and Moscow in late 2016 to find a peaceful settlement to the Syria war.

“They are claiming stakes in the upcoming Sochi talks and Syria’s future government, but economic interests have always been their priority,” the veteran commander added.

Turkey, Iran, and Russia are scheduled to convene the Syrian national dialogue congress in Sochi on Jan. 29-30.