Syria Unwilling to Turn Back on Iran

The United States and Israel should understand that Syria will not sacrifice its strong relationship with Iran even in return for a peace deal, said pro-government newspaper al-Watan, on April 28.



In an opinion piece published by Syrian Daily, columnist Ziad Shawish described as “rude” the recent comments made by Israel’s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, who reportedly said Iran was a major obstacle to resolving the Middle East conflict, and rejected a resumption in the indirect talks with Syria in which the previous Israeli government took part.



The Jerusalem Post quoted Lieberman as saying the greatest obstacle to peace “is not Israel, it is not the Palestinians. It's the Iranians."



According to that newspaper, Lieberman pointed to Syria's deepening ties with Iran, and added that he that he saw no point in resuming indirect talks with Damascus



Shawish said he thought the Israeli foreign minister was trying to set Arab states at odds with Iran.



The columnist pointed out that Washington had not responded to Lieberman’s comments, even though they appeared to contradict the new United States administration’s policies for the region.



“We aren’t hearing any condemnation of such extremist stances from the administration of [US president Barack] Obama,” he said.



Shawish urged Arabs to make it clear to the US and Israel that they regard Iran as a neighbour and would not assume a hostile stance towards it, no matter what the pressures.



He concluded that Israel and the US should accept a peace plan that is based on justice and international legitimacy.