FYI
Middle East
30 August 2013
Last updated at 16:52 GMT
Syria crisis: Iran treads fine line on conflict
By Mohsen Asgari
BBC News, Tehran
"'Chemical
weapons' use in Syria, whoever has done it, is a criminal action and
must be condemned. This is Iran's clear and absolute position,"
Iranian
Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Facebook
page.
However, Iran does not trust the intention of the United
States and its allies in launching military action against the Syrian
government under the pretext of humanitarian intentions.
"Did all those countries, which make a lot of noise today,
have the same position when Saddam Hussein killed many civilians by
chemical bombs in [the Iranian town of] Sardasht?" Mr Zarif added on his
Facebook wall.
Sardasht, a small town in the Iranian province of West
Azerbaijan, was the first place where civilians were attacked with
chemical weapons by the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during the
Iran-Iraq War some 25 years ago.
On 28 June 1987, Iraqi aircrafts dropped mustard gas bombs on Sardasht
in two separate attacks on four residential areas.
"Early that morning, the people were gathered at a local
shrine," recalled Peyman, a 56-year-old volunteer soldier in the
Iran-Iraq war who was in Zardeh village.
"Each plane dropped four bombs, weighing 250kg (550lb) each. The
smoke was yellow, green, red, and black.
"One man said it was like a rainbow; another said it was as
if the sky was covered in plastic cling film. The birds started dropping
off the trees and then the people fell."
He is chemically affected and must come to Sasan hospital in central
Tehran for treatment every month.
"Where was [US President] Barack Obama when our children
perished in front of our eyes?" Peyman asked, bursting into tears and
putting his oxygen mask back on his nose to breathe more easily.
Two hundred and seventy-five people died that morning in a
place of worship - many of them women and children. Out of a population
of 20,000, some 25% are still suffering severe illnesses from the
attacks.
"Whoever did this to innocent people should have the same thing
done back to them so they understand," said Peyman's wife.
'Second Vietnam'
This sentiment is common in Iran.
Iranians widely regard the United States and its allies with
anger and distrust. Chemical weapons remind them of their grievance and
losses.
However, the Islamic Republic of Iran, apart from a few predictable
warnings, has kept a low profile.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his meeting
with the new cabinet, condemned the interference of foreigners in Syrian
affairs: "Americans will be the main losers of their military attacks
on Syria, like their defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan."
His remarks were immediately echoed by Iranian warlords and commanders.
General Brigadier Mohammad Ali Jafari, the chief commander of
the Revolutionary Guards, said: "Although Americans have experienced
bitter defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq, they want to complete the domino
of their defeats and Syria will be a second Vietnam for them."
Iranians probably believe the White House when it says that the United
States does not seek regime change in Syria.
"The options that we are considering are not about regime
change," said White House spokesman Jay Carney. "They are about
responding to a clear violation of an international standard that
prohibits the use of chemical weapons."
Iran believes the United States wants to save face among the
international community on the one hand, and to relieve pressure from
neo-conservatives and Israel urging it to attack on the other.
"Iran does not want to open more fronts against itself in the
world and it is certain that [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad will
not be replaced," political analyst Saeed Leylaz told BBC in Tehran.
"Thus it is not prudent to play more Catholic than the Pope.
If Britain and Russia are not able to stop the war, why should Iran?"
After the victory of the moderate Hassan Rouhani in Iran's
presidential election, this is the first big test for his government to
show a different image to the previous administration team.
Mr Rouhani has promised to ease the lives of Iranians in the
first 100 days of his presidency by removing obstacles in the way of
Iran's economy. The West has imposed paralysing sanctions on Iran's
economy for its disputed nuclear activities.
The new government does not want to
add fuel to the fire of its international problems by adopting radical
strategies. However, launching military attacks on Syria will sharpen
the teeth of hardliners in the country and weaken the moderate policies
of the newly-established government.
"The British Parliament rejects military intervention in Syria, as
do Iran and Russia," said Saaed Leylaz.
"If the US attacks Syria, the international community will
understand that America uses its muscles, not its brain. This is the
first time that even Britain does not want to follow America into
another war."
More Middle East stories
UN team quits Syria as US weighs strike
A UN team
investigating alleged chemical weapons attacks
leaves Damascus, as the US considers a "limited narrow act" against
Syria.
Sheikhs charged over Lebanon bombs
Egypt Morsi supporters stage rallies
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