Iran backs Assad in battle for Aleppo

Published on 08/08/2012 00:00

SYRIA’S president Bashar al-Assad won a pledge of support from ally Iran yesterday as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo.

Seeking to restore his authority after suffering the gravest setbacks so far in the 17-month-old uprising, culminating in the defection of his prime minister on Monday, Mr Assad was shown on television meeting a senior Iranian official.

It was the first footage broadcast of the 46-year-old leader for two weeks, and came a day after Syria’s new caretaker prime minister was televised chairing a hastily called cabinet session, possibly to rebut reports that other ministers had deserted along with premier Riyad Hijab.

Saeed Jalili, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would not let its close partnership with the Syrian leadership be shaken by the uprising or external foes.

“Iran will not allow the axis of resistance, of which it considers Syria to be an essential part, to be broken in any way,” Syrian television quoted Mr Jalili as saying.

The “axis of resistance” refers to Shiite Iran’s anti-Israel alliance with Syria’s rulers – from the Alawite faith which is an offshoot of Shia Islam – and the Lebanese Shiite militants of Hezbollah, who fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006.

Damascus and Tehran have held Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states and Turkey, allies of the US and European powers, responsible for the bloodshed in Syria by supporting the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels. Western powers are concerned that anti-western Sunni Islamists could benefit from a victory for the anti-Assad forces.