Syrian FM in Tehran

Trilateral Meeting of Iran, Syria and Russia

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend a trilateral meeting with the Iranian officials and Russia’s visiting special envoy. Moualem’s visit comes at a critical time for the Assad regime. After more than four years of intense fighting, Syria is practically disintegrated, portioned into areas of influence of the regime, the Islamic State, and various opposition groups. Assad is mainly in control of Damascus-Latakia corridor, less than 20 percent of what used to be Syria, with the opposition closing in on Latakia.

Iran’s support of Assad’s regime has been a key factor for its survival. A coalition of Lebanese Hezbollah and Afghan, Pakistani and Iraqi Shia militias under the command of Iran’s Quds Force have taken up the fight against the opposition at a time when the morale in the Syrian army and the government’s national guard (the NDF) must be at its lowest after suffering a string of losses to the opposition this year. The Quds Force role in the fight, coupled with tens of billions of Iranian and Russian economic and military aid to Assad, has prevented the collapse of the regime.

Discussions in Tehran on the future of the war in Syria could be very intense. Assad does not have many options left and last week all but conceded to a de facto partition of the country when he said publicly that his army could not fight everywhere and needed to focus on areas of crucial importance to the regime. Iran and Russia, at least for now, seem to have doubled down on Assad's chances of defeating the opposition and will probably push Moualem to turn around the situation on the ground, the worst for Assad since the start of the civil war in 2011. 

File photo: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem (IRNA)

Syria and Iran Condemn U.S. Aid to Syrian Opposition

Opposition Reports Relaxation of Arms Flow to Rebels 

Syria and Iran condemned a move by the US to give non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow the Assad government.

“This (the aid) is nothing but a double-standard policy … One who seeks a political solution does not punish the Syrian people,” said the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, at a joint news conference on Saturday in Tehran with Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister.

The U.S. said on Thursday it would provide capacity-building assistance to Syrian rebels, including medical supplies, food for rebel fighters and $60 million to help the opposition provide basic services such as security, education and sanitation in the areas under their control. The move is seen as a way to bolster the rebels' popular support.

Salehi said the US move would prolong the Syrian conflict

“If you really feel sorry about the ongoing situation in Syria you should force the opposition to sit at the negotiation table with the Syrian government and put an end to bloodshed,” Salehi said. “Why do you encourage the opposition to continue these acts of violence?”

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported today that the rebels have been noticing a noticeable relaxation in recent days of the strict restrictions the U.S. and Turkey had put on arms flows over the Turkish border. An opposition figure told the newspaper that a Syrian army helicopter and a MIG fighter jet had been shot down in the past two days, for the first time by imported missiles.

“Before, 23mm was the maximum caliber for anti-aircraft guns permitted and we were allowed to bring in RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] but not armor-piercing shells. But there is a major shift on the ground now. The policy is changing.

“I think the shift in American attitudes goes far beyond the official reports. I think that Washington knows it can no longer allow the to problem fester,” said the Syrian opposition figure. (The Guardian, 2 March)

Photo credit: The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, left, and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, in Tehran. Saturday 2 March. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)