NCRI – A close ally of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has spoken of the regime’s fear that the Syrian revolution could trigger a change in Iraq.
Ahmad Khatami speaking as the substitute Tehran’s Friday Prayer Leader said: “The West has a special greed towards Iraq and Syria. Syria lies in the front line and if they are successful there, next comes Iraq.”
Khatami was echoing Ali Khamenei’s remarks emphasizing that “Syria is the strategic front line” for the regime.
Another senior cleric, Mehdi Taeb, also among Khamenei’s inner circle and the head of the so-called “Ammar Headquarters” repressive entity, admitted that the clerical regime’s sheer existence depends on the Syrian dictatorship.
He said on February 14: “Syria is the 35th province and a strategic province for us. If the enemy attacks us and seeks to take over Syria or (Iran’s) Khuzestan, the priority lies in maintaining Syria because if we maintain Syria, we can take back Khuzestan. However, if we lose Syria, we won’t be able to hold Tehran,”
On January 26 Khamenei advisor Ali Akbar Velayati described Syria’s dictatorship as the “golden ring of the resistance” and added, “Had Syria not provided Hezbollah logistical support, Hezbollah would have not been victorious in the 33-day war and neither Hamas in the 22 –day war. Syria has a very fundamental and key role in the region for the policy of resistance to advance firmly or become shaky. Therefore, aggression against Syria is considered aggression against Iran and Iran’s allies.”
Ahmad Khatami, who is a senior member of the Assembly of Experts, also warned all presidential candidates to obey the law ahead of this June’s election.
He said: “All the candidates that intend to be nominated must fully obey. The problem in the 2009 elections was that some who stood for office did not.”
In a clear reference to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he added: “None of the leaders of the three branches of the government are allowed to encourage, approve and support a candidate. Using public funds in any way is forbidden.”
