Attack on Ain al-Assad laid ground for US exit from region

Iran’s Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani made the remarks in a meeting (Monday) with the ambassadors and heads of Iranian missions in neighboring countries during which he spoke about the current global situation and its effects on the strategic position of the West Asia region, the need to adopt strategies that lead to integration and synergy among the countries in the region, especially the relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran with its neighbors. 

Shamkhani pointed to resolving any tensions and even misunderstandings, developing and strengthening all-out cooperation, especially in the fields of economy, defense-security and strategic partnership as among the most important and main priorities of Iran’s foreign policy in relation to its neighbors.

The top Iranian security official pointed to the decline of US hegemonic power while the emergence of new powers and said, “These conditions have led to fundamental changes and the creation of new tensions and rivalries and a great international rivalry with the United States.”

Shamkhani further described the escalation of the confrontation between Iran and the Zionist regime [of Israel], the relocation of the Zionist regime from being under the command of the European Command (EUCOM) to US-led CENTCOM, the process of normalization of relations between some Arab countries and the Zionist regime as dangerous signs of this change.

He also said that the US has now failed in its Maximum Pressure Campaign against Iran, adding that “Even after the assassination of Gen. Soleimani, the United States failed to realize its strategy of dismantling regional resistance.”

With these conditions aggregated and the strong slap that Iran inflicted on the United States after the Ain Al Assad Airbase not only proved the legitimacy of Iran’s regional policies to everyone but also laid the ground for reducing the US presence and its withdrawal from the region.