US war on Syria aimed at strengthening al-Qaeda: Prof. Marandi

A political analyst says the United States seeks to ‘strengthen’ the terrorist al-Qaeda network by launching a potential military strike against the crisis-hit Syria.

Mohammad Marandi, a professor at University of Tehran, told the Dutch NOS television that Washington is “strengthening al-Qaeda in Syria because the extremist groups” operating in the Arab state will be the beneficiaries of a potential military intervention in the country.

He further dismissed the recent claims about the use of chemical arms by the Syrian government, stressing that there is no reason for Damascus “to use chemical weapons at the time when it’s winning all the battles” against the Takfiri groups.

“It’s obviously in the interest of the militants to use these weapons. And of course, the United States and its partners encourage the use of these weapons because they know every time they use them, the Syrian government will be blamed by the West.”

On March 19, the Syrian government reported a terrorist chemical attack that killed 26 people the near the city of Aleppo. The US accused the Syrian government of carrying out the assault, but a Russian-led inquiry revealed that the militants were behind the attack. UN investigator Carla Del Ponte also said on May 6 that testimony from victims of the conflict in Syria suggests the extremist groups had used the nerve agent, sarin.

“Politically speaking, the United States and its allies are alienating countries like China and Russia and these countries will be, I think, moving closer to countries like Iran. So in the long term, the United States is not only damaging its credibility but it’s isolating itself across the international community,” Marandi added.

The war rhetoric against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces accused President Bashar al-Assad’s government of having launched a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus last week.

A number of Western countries, including the US, France, and the UK, were quick to adopt the rhetoric of war against Syria despite the fact that Damascus categorically rejected the claim, and announced later that the chemical attack had been actually carried out by the militants themselves as a false-flag operation.

Iran, among a number of other countries, has warned against the consequences of a military strike against Syria, saying that the fallout from such a military action would engulf the entire region.