In an interview with Tasnim, Ali Shamkhani explicated Iran’s plans to help the Syrian government in the battle against terrorism and to fight off the Israeli attacks on the Syrian territories.
Asked about his recent comments at a meeting with Syria’s foreign minister about plans to prevent and respond to the Israeli attacks on Syria and about Tehran’s military assistance to Damascus, Shamkhani underlined that Iran provides “advisory help” for Syria in the fight against terrorism at the request of the Damascus government and with the purpose of supporting the Arab country and its people.
He underlined that lawful presence in Syria is the “basic principle” for the Islamic Republic, noting that all parties acknowledge that Iran has behaved successfully in such process.
“We will stay in Syria and fight against terrorism as long as the legitimate Syrian government would make such request,” Shamkhani added.
As regards the Israeli military strikes on Syria, Shamkhani said Iran believes that such attacks are meant to help the terrorists.
“Israel is clearly taking steps to serve the interests of terrorists and to counter the Syrian government and army,” he underscored, adding that the Zionist regime has “crossed the red line” by targeting the equipment and forces of Iran and the resistance front in a series of strikes against Syria.
“Accordingly, we severely responded to the (Israeli) attack on T-4 (airbase in Syria) and dealt a heavy blow to them (Zionists). We have made arrangements to protect our red line in the area of human casualties caused by any act of aggression and invasion,” he added.
Shamkhani said the plans to prevent human casualties in the Israeli attacks have been devised “in cooperation with the Syrian army and the set of allies in that country”, stressing, “We will soon witness a major upheaval in upgrading the deterrent power of resistance in Syria.”
“I believe that the Zionist regime’s officials, particularly their military and intelligence officials, are well aware of this issue. The method for tackling the Zionist regime’s attacks on Syria and the axis of resistance in 2019 will be significantly different from the combat methods in the past.”
Shamkhani further noted that Iran is confident that the Zionist regime would not seek a war in Syrian’s northern fronts, because it is too weak in that region, saying Iran has considered a “prevention scenario” in several stages according to the developments.
“If Netanyahu gets entangled in several fronts simultaneously, he will definitely end his shaky political life in the run-up to the elections. I don’t think that he (Netanyahu) would be such silly,” he added.
Shamkhani further stressed that the Israeli attacks have failed to block the achievement of the axis of resistance’s purposes in Syria, noting, “We have accomplished more than 90 percent of our objectives. Thus, the Israeli punitive strikes (on Syria) have had no strategic impact and the resistance has pressed ahead with its activities.”
He finally stated that the axis of resistance’s great success debunks the Israeli regime’s false claims about its intelligence capabilities in Syria.
Deriding Israel’s failure in the intelligence sphere, Shamkhani said the Zionist regime once tried to target a missile storage depot in Syria, while it raided a barn of rolled carpets which he said was an “unforgivable scandal” in terms of military operations.
Sanctions
Shamkhani also said it had many options to neutralise the reimposition of US sanctions on its oil exports, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, adding that Tehran’s clerical rulers had no plans to hold talks with Washington.
“Apart from closing Strait of Hormuz, we have other options to stop oil flow if threatened… The US administration lacks ‘goodwill’, no need to hold talks with America,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani told Tasnim. He added:
Iran has plans in place that will neutralise the illegal US sanctions against Iran’s oil exports
Tensions between Iran and the United States increased after US President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers last May, and then reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Washington aims to force Tehran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups in Syria and Iraq.
Iranian officials have threatened to disrupt oil shipments from the Gulf countries if Washington tries to strangle Tehran’s oil exports.
Carrying one-third of the world’s seaborne oil every day, the Strait of Hormuz links Middle East crude producers to key markets in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond.
