Strong signs Iran is supplying Syria with weapons, US says

Associated Press ^ | January 17, 2012 | unattributed

[Hunton Peck]

A recent visit by the commander of Iran's elite Quds force to Damascus is the strongest sign yet that Iran is supplying weapons to aid Bashar Assad's crackdown on the Syrian people, a senior Obama administration official said Tuesday.

While the U.S. has long believed Iran is helping drive the deadly crackdown on dissent in Syria, the official says the visit by Quds Force Commander Ghassem Soleimani provides a concrete example of direct high-level cooperation between Iran and Syria.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to speak publicly.

The administration's assertion comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. Under the threat of increased U.S. sanctions, Iran has said it could block the strategic Strait of Hormuz; the Obama administration says it has warned Iran against taking such action.

Persian Iran has been Arab Syria's closest ally for decades, and the Islamic Republic has been a vocal supporter of Assad since the uprising against...

[Hunton Peck]

Charges that Iran is helping Syria are not new. This is just the most recent bit of evidence the administration has presented for those allegations.

[Slings and Arrows]

Ping!

[paul51]

another shocking revelation: the sun will rise in the east

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[familyop]

Iranian leaders very publicly vowed several years ago to supply Syria with nuclear weapons and technologies, but our favored bipartisan, global-business-oriented constituents didn’t want to know that.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Hunton Peck.

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