Iran: Attacking Syria Leads to Multi-Sided War in Region

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan warned the advocates of war on Syria against its unpredictable consequences, saying such a war will engage numerous countries and lead to a regional war.
“The Syrian government and Bashar Assad will not stand still to allow others to topple their political system or bomb their people without facing any reaction,” Dehqan said in a televised interview with Iran’s state-run channel one TV on Monday night.

“Certainly, this reaction will be shown on the basis of the decision made by the Syrian political leaders and will cause a new round of reciprocal attacks in the region and it will possibly entangle others with battle and put them in battlefield,” he added.

Dehqan advised the Americans to think about the consequences and results of invading Syria and do a cost-and-benefit before embarking on an attack on the Middle-Eastern country.

“I believe that the US intervention with any quality will lead to the spread of the crisis, creation of a security vacuum and make the Americans get stuck in the region like in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he added.

In relevant remarks on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced Tehran’s concern about certain countries’ warmongering in the Middle-East region, warning that their attitude will have dire consequences for the region and the world.

“Conditions in the region are so sensitive that we should avoid any war in the region,” Zarif said at a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari in Baghdad.

“We are concerned about warmongering in the region and know that such warmongering will be dangerous for the entire region and the world; therefore, we invite everyone to avoid using force and also invited all sides of the crisis (in Syria) to hold talks to settle the crisis politically,” he added.

He warned Washington and other countries which beat the drums of war on Syria against its dire consequences, and said, “We know that the US President has stepped onto a trap laid by others without being personally willing to do so, and we hope that he will save himself from the trap and won’t push the region and themselves into a fire which will burn the US and the region.”

Also on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned against any possible US military strike on Syria, and called for a global condemnation of any foreign-led aggression against the Muslim country.

“As regards regional issues, the criterion should be international laws and any foreign intervention, specially military action contradicting international regulations, will lead the region to instability, hence it is necessary that unilateral military actions be condemned and chastised,” President Rouhani said in a meeting with the visiting Special Envoy of the Japanese Prime Minister, Masahiko Komura, here in Tehran.

The call for military action against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces accused the Syrian government of launching a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21.

Damascus has vehemently denied the accusations, saying the chemical attack was carried out by the militants themselves as a false flag operation.