extract
“The Syrian official said, “Russia, as a major world power, was looking at the scene from its position … and thought that giving peace a chance should have saved a lot of lives. The other side — the US, mainly — wasn’t serious about its commitments. Therefore, the attacks by militants were more brutal than before and this caused some losses in the field.”
Once a naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Shamkhani will report directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “who’s the man who has the final say on main issues in Syria,” an Iranian official told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that Shamkhani knows Iran’s “red lines” very well and that he’s in direct contact with Khamenei.
He said, “The Supreme Leader is following every detail in Syria because he believes that this war is in fact on Iran the same as it is on Syria. He also supports every kind of coordination with friendly and allied parties to this war, as it is a world war that needs each and every effort.”
The official indicated that Tehran supports every effort aimed at ending the Syrian conflict, saying, “In Geneva, Vienna or anywhere, seeing people sitting together around the table is the best thing. Yet sitting just to buy time doesn’t make sense. The Americans are buying time for their new president at the cost of lives in Syria. We can’t accept such hesitation amid people’s tragedies.”
He added, “Our friends the Russians went to the end [of the road] with the Americans. We warned on several occasions that this is not right. We even lost several officers and observers because of Russia’s position, and now that they discovered that there’s no outcome, we are going to start a new level of cooperation.”
The Iranian official concluded, “Iran, Russia and Syria agreed on a common goal: combating terrorism, which today is the main threat to the whole region. Our cooperation, common vision and commitment will give good results, and this happened in the past months and years despite some complexities we are facing. What we are quite sure of is that this cooperation will achieve a lot of hope, and for sure we will all emerge victorious.”
But how will this be reflected on the ground?
A Syrian field commander told Al-Monitor he expects that the coming weeks will see an escalation of the situations in north and east Syria, “The Iranians are sending more troops. … Some have already arrived. And the Russians informed us that new plans are going to be implemented in Syria and this might involve real changes in tactics. What we are sure of is that the more our allies are on the same track, the closer we are to victory.” The commander suggested that even on the Iranian side, there have been some differences in the way things are done on the ground, and said, “As time is passing, this is becoming part of the past and we hope from now on that things will assume a better direction.” http://russia-insider.com/en/tehran-wants-russia-double-down-syria/ri15086
extract
“The Syrian official said, “Russia, as a major world power, was looking at the scene from its position … and thought that giving peace a chance should have saved a lot of lives. The other side — the US, mainly — wasn’t serious about its commitments. Therefore, the attacks by militants were more brutal than before and this caused some losses in the field.”
Once a naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Shamkhani will report directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “who’s the man who has the final say on main issues in Syria,” an Iranian official told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that Shamkhani knows Iran’s “red lines” very well and that he’s in direct contact with Khamenei.
He said, “The Supreme Leader is following every detail in Syria because he believes that this war is in fact on Iran the same as it is on Syria. He also supports every kind of coordination with friendly and allied parties to this war, as it is a world war that needs each and every effort.”
The official indicated that Tehran supports every effort aimed at ending the Syrian conflict, saying, “In Geneva, Vienna or anywhere, seeing people sitting together around the table is the best thing. Yet sitting just to buy time doesn’t make sense. The Americans are buying time for their new president at the cost of lives in Syria. We can’t accept such hesitation amid people’s tragedies.”
He added, “Our friends the Russians went to the end [of the road] with the Americans. We warned on several occasions that this is not right. We even lost several officers and observers because of Russia’s position, and now that they discovered that there’s no outcome, we are going to start a new level of cooperation.”
The Iranian official concluded, “Iran, Russia and Syria agreed on a common goal: combating terrorism, which today is the main threat to the whole region. Our cooperation, common vision and commitment will give good results, and this happened in the past months and years despite some complexities we are facing. What we are quite sure of is that this cooperation will achieve a lot of hope, and for sure we will all emerge victorious.”
But how will this be reflected on the ground?
A Syrian field commander told Al-Monitor he expects that the coming weeks will see an escalation of the situations in north and east Syria, “The Iranians are sending more troops. … Some have already arrived. And the Russians informed us that new plans are going to be implemented in Syria and this might involve real changes in tactics. What we are sure of is that the more our allies are on the same track, the closer we are to victory.” The commander suggested that even on the Iranian side, there have been some differences in the way things are done on the ground, and said, “As time is passing, this is becoming part of the past and we hope from now on that things will assume a better direction.”
http://russia-insider.com/en/tehran-wants-russia-double-down-syria/ri15086
21 June