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Syrian President thankful of Iran support: Academic

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on July 21, 2016 shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaking during an interview with the official Cuban Prensa Latina agency, in the capital Damascus. (AFP photo)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Iran's support for Syria has been crucial for the survival of the war-stricken country, Jamal Wakim, a professor at the Lebanese International University, told Press TV’s Top 5.

Wakim believes the main theme in President Assad's latest interview is “an acknowledgement to the sacrifices” made by Iran to support Syria.

Assad told The Tehran Foreign Policy Studies Quarterly that the United States is afraid of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution inspiring peoples across the world.

“Before the onset of the crisis [in Syria], the US insisted that Syria act against the axis of resistance and Iran. But we never agreed to enter such an atmosphere,” Assad said, adding that the Americans wanted for the Syrian government to be replaced with a vassal state, which would easily hand over the country to the West.

Referring to the role of Iran in the region, Wakim said the Islamic Republic has been playing an essential role in fighting Israel and hindering its attempts for hegemony on the Middle East.

The Islamic Republic has been providing advisory support for Syria’s defense against foreign-backed militancy.

According to Wakim, the majority of the Syrian people support their government’s stride to resist the Western and Israeli attempts to impose their dominance on Syria.

Ruling out media hype by the West on different sects and social classes in Syria, he further noted, “The Western media and the Western governments tried to present the situation in Syria as if it is polarized along sectarian lines, which is not the case.”

Syria has been gripped by foreign-sponsored militancy since March 2011. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in the Middle Eastern state, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.


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