Iran would not sit idly by in Syria if Saudi ground forces deployed: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, to discuss the remarks made by Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri, who warned certain countries against seeking to enforce their political agenda in Syria.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Obviously, quite a statement to make. That the commander of Iran’s Army Defense is saying up on request by Damascus Iran is totally willing and ready to get involved militarily as far as... with the situation. Tell me the significance of this.

Izadi: Well, the signal that that the Iranian commander is sending to the other side is that doing things that violates Syria’s sovereignty is not going to be tolerated by the Syrian government or by the governments that are supporting the Syrian government.

Iran in general wants to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis. Iran is not interested in escalation of war; but unfortunately in the last few days, we have been hearing from the Saudi government officials that they are able and willing to send troops to Syria; they have sent planes to Turkey as part of a new escalation, bombing Syrian forces apparently. So, it would be best for all sides to make sure that the agreement that was reached just a few days ago is not going to be violated so soon.

It is not proper for all these parties to go and meet and discuss reaching a political solution and then in the matter of hours, we have the Saudi government talking about using force or sending troops or sending airplanes to Turkey.

Press TV: So what does this mean, if we look at the situation, what does it mean? Does it mean that we are on the edge of this whole situation in Syria expanding? Are we talking about just Iran being involved possibly from the air and protecting the airspace or could we possibly be on the verge of... actually, if the Saudis send troops, and the Turks send troops and others, do you think we are likely to see Iranian troops also involved on the ground in Syria?

Izadi: What Iran wants to make sure is that first of all there is a political solution and if the political solution cannot be reached, then Iran is not going to let the Syrian government fall because if the Syrian government falls, then you are going to have a government in Damascus that it is going to be either allied with Daesh or they are going to be allied with Israel and United States and those two options are not on the table for Iran.

So the best solution would be a political solution. If for some reason the Saudi government or the Turkish government or the US government decided to escalate the situation and use more force, if they decide to introduce troops to Syria, then I think the countries that are aligned with the Syrian government will respond, they are not going to sit and watch massacre of thousands of people and that is what you will have if the Syrian government faces difficulties.

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