Iran’s Rouhani: Crisis in Syria Part of Broader Western Plot for Entire Region

TEHRAN- Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says the ongoing crisis in Syria is merely part of a wider conspiracy plan the West is pursuing in the Middle East, according to Press TV.

“We are well aware that the disputes are not over one person or one president or the coming to power of a particular faction in Syria; it goes beyond that and it is obvious that the West has plans for the whole region,” Rouhani said in address to top commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps on Monday.

“What has happened in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain are rings of a single chain of events which aims to impact the region and weaken the anti-Israeli resistance front,” the Iranian president added.

Rouhani said the West wrongly assumes that Iran seeks military control of the region, adding, however, that the country’s preeminent position in the region today is due to its superior discourse.

“Our discourse is one of fighting terrorism in the whole region,” the Iranian president said.

Describing foreign countries that have a military presence in the region as “uninvited guests,” Rouhani said they must leave, stop interfering in the regional countries and end their Iranophobia campaign.

Rouhani pointed to Iran’s policy regarding Syria and said, “All our efforts are directed at restoring peace and stability to Syria, and we will accept whomever the Syrian citizens choose to run their country.”

Jafari: Failure of Syria War Plot, Defeat of Enemies

For his part, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari said world powers suffered their latest defeat against the Resistance Front when their conspiracy to launch a military strike against Syria failed.

“So far, the enemies’ plot for military intervention in Syria has failed,” Jafari said on Monday.

The top general further added that almost all the schemes drawn up by the enemies against the Resistance Front have failed.

“Given the fact that enemies cannot overcome the Resistance Front in Syria, they definitely cannot take any action against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the commander underlined.

The war rhetoric against Syria intensified after foreign-backed armed groups accused the Syrian government of launching a chemical attack on terrorists’ strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21.

Damascus has vehemently denied the accusations, saying the attack was carried out by the armed groups themselves as a false-flag operation to provoke foreign military intervention.

On September 10, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Damascus is ready to implement a Russian proposal to place its chemical weapons arsenal under international control.

The Russian government proposed the initiative during a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Muallem in Moscow on September 9.

In response, US President Barack Obama asked Congress to delay a vote on authorizing military action against Syria in order to give the Russian proposal a chance to play out.

On September 3, the UN secretary general said that only the Security Council can authorize any use of force against Syria over the alleged chemical weapons attack.

H.M